TETFund: Towards Achieving Digital Literacy

The advancements in technology have, in no small measure, affected the way people engage, work, and learn.

Given that the impact of digital devices and the Internet has generated various changes at social, political, and economic levels, the need to embrace digital literacy cannot be overemphasized.

In demonstrating its commitment to enhance digital literacy, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has recommitted towards sustaining current efforts at digitalization of systems, processes and academic content as well as ensuring that digital literacy is continuously being developed at our Beneficiaries Institutions.

At a recent workshop on Digital Communication/ICT Essential Skills Capacity Development for ICT Staff of beneficiary institutions, TETFund Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny  Echono said it is determined to bridge the digital skills gap in our Beneficiary institutions.

According to him, the Fund has identified converged services for implementation in 2023 which includes: Communication and Essential ICT Skills Capacity Development, which he said will target both staff and students to improve their productivity and equip them with the essential skills necessary for our increasing digital economy.

He also identified Anthology (blackboard) Online eLearning Enhancements, which aims to standardise the online learning management landscape of Beneficiary Institutions in order to create a nationwide center of excellence in digital learning to enable and certify thousands of teachers and access to a worldwide community of 4000+ Institutions and best practices amongst other educational benefits.

“We also desire to produce graduates that are globally competitive, innovative, and entrepreneurial minded in attitude.

“Given the rising significance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) across diverse sectors, including education, this initiative holds immense potential to positively impact educators, students, and the overall advancement of our educational landscape.”

Echono said as the Fund continue to grapple with lean resources given the increase in the number of enlisted Beneficiary Institutions and student population, converged services have become pertinent to accelerate and improve the usage of Information and Communication Technology to advance the reach of teaching, learning and research in our Beneficiary Institutions and in the Country at large.

According to him, TETFund had developed an ICT roadmap in 2015 with the 2016-2018 ICT Support Intervention, which resulted in over 19,000 staff of our institutions being trained and certified in various digital literacy skills. That was the first step.

In 2019-2020 ICT Support Intervention, it gave guidelines for eLearning and training on eLearning methodologies for hybrid modes of learning given the advent of the Covid Pandemic and its attendant consequences.

For 2021-2022 ICT Support Intervention, Echono said it gave guidelines for establishment of ICDL Accredited Test Centers (ATC) which is yet another step in the direction of establishing pedestals for deepening the digital literacy curve.

The TETFund boss also lamented that a major skills gap exists in Nigeria’s educational system today hence they are not producing enough skilled manpower to service our population of over 200 million.

“The deficits are both technical and sectoral. Secondly, there is a mismatch between the skills required by employers in today’s digital world and the skills possessed by graduates produced from our institutions.

“This is further exacerbated by the fact that even our teaching, non-teaching and other management staff do not possess them in the right numbers. We want to do our best to bridge that gap.

“If we succeed in equipping students with digital skills, they will become more marketable in a digital-driven job market, increasing their chances of employability and career success.

“For you, our educators, we want to equip you with the essential skills training you can use to provide tech support to your ICT platforms and infrastructure and to train your students and other staff in your institution on digital literacy using those platforms,” he added.

He noted that the training will play a pivotal role in propelling the digital transformation and technological progress of our tertiary institutions, equipping educators and students with proficient digital literacy and essential skills will create avenues for enhanced research, innovation, and collaboration, both within the institutions and beyond.

“Today’s training is a Train the Trainer program. That means after we train you, you will be our champions to your Beneficiary Institutions, the training will take place at six centers in all the geopolitical zones of the country.

“We decided to host this first diet on our premises to see for ourselves and assess its impact. I hope your time with us will be productive and that you will find this training useful for the purpose that it was conceived. I wish you a memorable experience,” he added.

The Executive Secretary further  recalled from earlier presentations and its policy roadmap that the Fund remains committed to sustaining current efforts at digitalization of systems, processes and academic content as well as ensuring that digital literacy is continuously being developed at our Beneficiaries Institutions.

“We are determined to bridge the digital skills gap in our Beneficiary institutions. We also desire to produce graduates that are globally competitive, innovative, and entrepreneurial minded in attitude.

“Given the rising significance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) across diverse sectors, including education, this initiative holds immense potential to positively impact educators, students, and the overall advancement of our educational landscape.”