Current Scenario of Digital Advancement in Education in Nigeria

Education is one of the most important tools that help in bringing development to a nation and its different aspects. The literacy percentage among the population is a determinant factor that helps in calculating the growth percentage it can achieve in the years to come. When people are educated, it makes them competent to take logical decisions that have a direct impact on the personal life and professional life. In the present scenario, digitalization has entered into most of the sectors of human life. Be it the livelihood or educational facilities, most of the services that are obtained by the humans are some way or the other is connected to the digital medium. With the help of digital technology, people are able to attain great knowledge. However, this is not the scenario in Nigeria. In the present scenario, the intervention of digital advancement into the educational sector of Nigeria is still very less. This project will highlight the background of the problem stated and in addition to this; some tools and techniques will be discussed to analysis the situation and curb the problem to some extent.

Nigeria is a country situated in western Africa and shares its borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon along with Republic of Benin. The population of the country is 190,632,261 and is the most populous country in Africa.  Most of the population falls in the age group of 0-14 years. The demographics show that 42.45% of the population falls into this category (Export.gov, 2018). The total dependency ratio of the country is 88.2. The literacy rate in the country is not favourable at all. People above the age of 15 can read and write. Only 60 percent of the population of the country is literate and among the male and the females, the literacy rate is 69 percent and 49 percent respectively. From the statistics given it is evident that, education is an important sector that should be given priority by the government of Nigeria. The World Bank along with Nigeria has several projects to improve the literacy rates in the country. One such project is named as Nigeria Partnership for Education Project (Projects: Nigeria Partnership for Education Project | The World Bank, 2018). This particular projects aims at to provide basic education to the people in Nigeria particularly among the females. The objective of this program is to get children enrolled in school and stay there.

Demographics and Literacy Rates in Nigeria

Education through the use of digital has not witnessed growth in this part of Africa. Fliplearn Conference that has held in Nigeria by Microsoft Nigeria has aimed at bringing technical advancements in the learning process followed in the country. The objective of the conference has been to internationalise the learning process used to educate the children in Nigeria (Microsoft.com, 2018). The additional aim of the conference is to bring technological advancements into the classroom.

• Funding has been considered as the greatest problem in Nigerian education system
• Inadequate teaching staffs are another important problem in Nigerian educational industries
• Politicization of Education has been proved to be another greatest problem in Nigerian education system
• Improper infrastructure and lack of digital learning platforms have been one of the greatest problems in Nigerian education industries

Various problems in the educational sector have stood as obstacle in bringing technological advancements into the educational sector of Nigeria. The first thing that is required to bring in technological advancements in the educational sector is funds (Asiyai, 2015). According to the statistics, during the starting of the century, the federal government only allocated 10% funds of the total budget. 17 years after the percentage has only gone to 26 percent of the total budget. This is one of the grave reasons, why technology has not been included deeply in the educational sector (Daily Trust, 2013). The other reason is the conflict between the state and the federal government. The teaching staffs of Nigeria are not adequate and this is one of the reasons for the crippled condition of the education sector of the country. The third problem that is being faced by the educational sector of Nigeria is the politicization of Education. This is gravely affecting the growth of this particular sector. An admission to the schools and colleges does not happen according to the merit. It occurs according to the political influences. All the factors stated above are reasons for slow growth of digitalization in the educational process.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria has introduced ICT in the educational sector in 2007. However, effective implementation has not been achieved until date. There is still no specific policy related to the use of ICT in the educational sector of Nigeria. In addition to this only 60 per cent of the population has access to mobile education therefore, ICT driven educational projects are not possible to have an impact on all the levels of education (Tutu Agyeman, 2017).

To deal with the above-mentioned problems, some tools and techniques will be discussed. Digital literacy can be increased in the country if the state as well as the federal government join hands and draft a project to eradicate or tackle the problem.

• To increase the digital learning platforms in the education system of Nigeria
• To increase the literacy percentage through digital learning in the cities of Nigeria
• To effectively implement ICT in the education system in Nigeria
• To recruit efficient teachers for making knowledge distribution process effective in the educational industries of Nigeria

Narrative Summary	Verifiable Indicators	Means of verification	Important assumption
Goal	The main goal is to implement the strategies within education system to restructure the education techniques	Testing after completion of the objectives	Looking out for the larger numbers included in making the system greater
Purpose	To educate more people staying in Nigeria	Input	Literacy in a larger manner
Outputs	Assessment of resultant features for measuring the increasing numbers	Assessment of entire educational system through managing projects	Monitoring progress time to time
Activities	Implementation of digital; learning platforms, removing politics from education, raising funds for education industries	Meeting with students as well as the parents for confirmation	Continuous processing for the implementation of stated objectives through framed processes

The condition of the educational sector of Nigeria is up to the mark in the present days. In addition to this, technological advancements have not dawned upon this sector in a huge way. Most of the educational institutes in the country do not have access to smart classrooms with internet connections and computers and the condition in the rural areas is worse. As discussed above the dependency ratio of the country is sky high. Therefore, it can be understood that how badly the country needs development in the educational sector. Digitalization will not only increase the literacy percentage among the people in the country but also helping in spreading education at a greater rate (Asiyai, 2015). According to the demographics of the country, most of the people in the population fall in the age group of 0 to 14 years. Therefore, it can be understood that technological advancement is mostly needed in the primary schools and the educational institutions of the country. The children who fall in the age group 8 to 14 years either go to the primary educational institutions and the secondary educational institutions (Odia and Omofonmwan, 2017). The government of the country has introduced Universal Basic Education Programme for providing free education to the children below the age group of 14. However, even this program is not effective in bringing children back to school.

Partners in the Education Sector of Nigeria

The target group of the project are children that belong to the age group of 5 to 14 years. The demographics of the country state that the dependency of the ratio is quite high as most of the people in the population are children. The quality of education provided to the children in the present will carve the future of the country. Including technical advancements in the learning process will not only help the children to achieve global level of education but also help in overall development of the individuals (Odukoya et al., 2018).

In the educational sector of Nigeria, various stakeholders are included. These stakeholders take decision and funds various projects related to providing quality education to the children in Nigeria (Kettunen, 2015).

Partners

Apart from the government programs and ministry of education, various other partners present in the education sector of Nigeria are involved in making development policies for this particular sector. All the partners that have been mentioned here work relentlessly in bringing technological advancements into the educational sector of Nigeria. The partners in the educational sector are as follows:

The Federal Ministry of Education: In Nigeria, this is one of the most important partners in the education industry. Hon. Mal. Adamu Adamu is the Minister of education in Nigeria. The federal ministry has nearly 24 other programs in the department and the vision of the ministry is to delivery sound education for the betterment of the nation (User, S, 2018) 

Global Partnership of Education: After the government of the country, this is the most effective partner in the educational sector of Nigeria. This program is being funded by the World Bank and is catering to the educational sector of the country since 2012 (Globalpartnership.org, 2018).

Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA): This was the first and foremost forum for policy dialogue. It was established in 1988 and is an organization that develops better bonds between different departments of the educational industry. This partner was also formed on the instigation of the World Bank (Adeanet.org, 2018).

Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria: This program is controlled and implemented by British Council in Nigeria. This program supports the government and the schools of Nigeria. (Britishcouncil.org, 2018) The objective of this partner is to provide basic education to the children in Nigeria. The value of the partner is 2.7 million dollars. 

The primary stakeholders of the education sector in Nigeria are as follows:

• The children who fall in the age category of 5 to 14 years
• The teaching staff
• The non-teaching staff
• Ministry of Education in Nigeria
• School Board Members
• Administrators

Issues in the Education Sector of Nigeria

The secondary stakeholders of the educational sector in Nigeria are:

• The World Bank
• Parents
• Different Partners
• Organizations aided by different countries
• State and Federal Government

The major developmental strategy that can help the country to improve literacy level is a Hybrid approach to digital literacy. Traditionally, literacy is considered the ability to write and read-only. However, the concept has been changed as literacy skill is giving an opportunity to bring a sense of ability to communicate properly and social belongingness (Shuaib et al., 2015). Hybrid approaches to digital literacy are aiming at increasing the ability of students to interpret images, smart screens, and animated texts. This strategy has a belief that individuals’ literacy development and interest are linked to their own interests and hobbies.

Educators need to rethink the context of literacy in terms of students’ understanding of media, technologies, text, and others. Building a greater connection with the digital world will enable students to gain creative experiences during their learning process. Educators should try to use multimodal frameworks such as sounds, videos, and images to educate individuals. This approach will create significant interest among individuals for the learning process. Technology has a greater impact in terms of literacy development of the students. A hybrid approach to digital literacy has focused on five important modes of communication during the learning processes such as graphic stories, filmmaking, photography, and coding and video game design (Horn, et al., 2012). These modes are quite helpful in developing the literacy level of students.

Another developmental strategy is to use a problem-solving approach. This approach will aim at allowing students to learn by solving a problem. This can be possible by creating a learning situation. Digital platform has an important role in creating such learning situations. These situations can be created through animated videos and pictures. Students will be given the opportunity to analyze the situation and solve problems accordingly. By producing various learning activities will allow students to think creatively and generate ideas. It is only possible through a digital platform.

Various developmental approaches are used by different countries to increase the digital literacy level. In the UK, STEM strategy has been adopted. This strategy is helping the country to empower students through four important parameters such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Breiner et al., 2012). This strategy was undertaken by the Department of Education in the year 2007. It has gained huge success in terms of inspiring and energizing future generation. Students got an opportunity to judge their progress and success. The Government contributed to this strategy and this has led to huge success. Organizations have taken many initiatives to promote STEM education among people.

Strategies to Improve the Education Sector of Nigeria

The approach has given some recommendations to promote education among students. These recommendations involve developing a transparent STEM career path, introducing STEM scholarships, addressing gender bias, and developing regional STEM links (Corlu et al., 2014). STEM can be introduced in three major contexts such as education, society, and economy (Education-ni.gov.uk, 2018). The country has gained much experience in the global education system by introducing this particular framework. STEM in education has gained more popularity as it aims at the development of scientific and mathematic ideas in early stages of education. Students are provided with subject ideas and knowledge (Honey et al., 2014). This has helped them to enhance problem-solving skills and understanding application of various subjects in the real world.  

In Australia, the EdTech programme has been conducted to promote digital literacy in the country. Australia is known as a connected, sophisticated, skilled, multilingual, well-positioned, cyber secured and game-developing nation. It has around 350 edtech companies, which are serving the entire education system (Austrade.gov.au, 2018). The programme aims at delivering quality education to students through various digital platforms. It is providing edtech solutions in order to support and improve online learning provision. It is committed to the citizens of Australia by providing innovative and world-class solutions for this sector. Due to this programme, robotics and coding have become compulsory in every school for students. Many companies are using academic researches to communicate the design and development of their products. This is allowing students to learn various hardware and software usage from the early stage of their education.    

The programme has developed new learning approaches such as 3P learning, cahoot learning, Learnosity and others. 3P Learning is an online education company, which offers cloud-based resources to students and schools. It is improving the outcomes of various subjects including literacy and mathematics. Cahoot learning is a type of cloud learning, which connects human learning with the digital world (Austrade.gov.au, 2018). Learnosity helps in delivering online assessment solutions to both higher and corporate education.

Including technology into educational sector would require a proper project and that project should be managed as well. Project management would require the collaboration of the state as well as the federal government of Nigeria. In addition to this, the private organization should come forward to improve the impact of digital technology on the educational sector of the country. Every kind of project requires some tools and technique in order to develop the proposal (Guardian.ng, 2018).

The technique that will be used to implement the hybrid learning approach in order to improvise digital literacy in Nigeria would requires some three to four phases and steps. The first step would include preparation and training. The second phase would include SLA methodology, training and operation and the third phase includes withdrawal and evaluation. In the third phase, evaluation and monitoring is also included.

Project training and preparation would require 3 months of time. In the time period-devoted t phase 1, training would be imparted to the teachers and the non-teaching staffs of the country regarding the effective implementation of the hybrid approach through SLA methodology. Local field agents should also be trained in the SLA methodology regarding data collection and facilitation (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2015). Awareness should be spread among the parents of the children about the importance of education in the life of the children and more importantly the need of digital literacy in the country. Government officials and community members should be selected in order to increase the awareness regarding development of digital literacy in the country through hybrid approach. Moreover, a skeletal of Income generation and financial literacy should be developed. This will help in the SLA methodology and would bring in positive outcomes at the end.  

In the SLA methodology, there are certain steps involved. The steps are:

• Group Formation: People have to collect themselves in-group in order to move ahead with the project. The people in the group should have thorough knowledge about the hybrid approach.
• Training: The people in the team should be properly trained regarding the activities that need to be included in the hybrid approach. Hybrid approach is one of the effective approaches that can improve the spread of technology in the education sector of Nigeria. Core training sessions will include teachers and committee people.
• Transparency: All the activities included in the approach should be transparent to the different stakeholders of the project and the educational sector.
• Financial Services: The government of the country should provide enough funds to the committee and the schools who are implementing the hybrid approach in the educational sector and the institutions.

Evaluation of the hybrid approach in improving digital literacy in Nigeria is very important. This would give an idea to the stakeholder about the effectiveness of the project in improving the level of literacy among the children in Nigeria. In the phase 3, a logical framework will be included that has goals, outcomes, outputs and activities. In the project, both participatory and traditional methods will be used in the evaluation techniques (Wogu et al., 2018).

The SLA methodology is an effective tool in implementing the hybrid approach in the educational sector of Nigeria. This particular tool will help in implementing, monitor the growth and evaluate the effectiveness of the project in a better way.

Conclusion 

The developmental problem involved in Nigeria is its unfavorable literacy rate. The country is getting many supports to improve its literacy rate. Various problems are creating obstacles in the educational sector of the country such as the lack of technological advancement and funds. Another problem in the educational system of the country is its high dependency rate. In order to deal with such situation and improve the condition, situational analysis has been conducted. Stakeholder analysis has been conducted to take decisions to provide quality education to students. Both primary and secondary stakeholders have been considered in this context. A hybrid approach to digital literacy can be used to enhance the literacy rate of the country. Comparative evidence of UK and Australia has been studied to understand their success in the educational system. Both countries have adopted the STEM framework and EdTech program respectively to enhance the education system and bring innovative solutions.

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