The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided 1,210 tablets to facilitate learning process among primary school pupils in Bauchi State.
UNICEF Education Specialist Bauchi Field Office, Abdulrahman Ado said in its continued efforts to leave no one behind and provide equal opportunities for quality education, UNICEF intends to use the programme to integrate children into modern digital technology in line with global best practices.
He said this is achievable through online lessons developed by the Nigerian Learning Passport (NLP) application, enabling children to access education even when they are not in school.
According to him, UNICEF is piloting this project in four local governments and 55 schools where each school received 22 tablets, one router, and one projector, totaling 1,210 tablets.
“This initiative coincides with the 2025 International Day of Education, which emphasises the importance of education accessibility and significance for all, with the theme: “AI and Education: Preserving Human Agency in a World of Automation,” Ado said.
He noted that the tablets, routers and projectors provided were insufficient to cover all children in the class and urged the government to recognise the benefits of the initiative and allocate resources to provide necessary facilities.
He further stated that UNICEF provided the gadgets to establish an NLP studio, allowing Bauchi State teachers to develop their own learning content.
He emphasised the need for the Bauchi State Government to recruit new teachers saying, “We are calling on the government to please use the Teacher Management Information System (TMIS) in recruiting these teachers that have been approved by the government.”
He also called on the government to provide training for teachers and headteachers, noting that people at the grassroots level contribute valuable information through the tablet installation dashboard, assuring that UNICEF would soon train local governments and state index officers.
He also urged the state government to prioritise school security to protect IT infrastructure.
“We are providing tablets and other gadgets, but do we have the necessary electricity in schools to charge these devices? Do we have adequate security in place? The goal is not for teachers to take these tablets home but to keep them in schools for educational use.”
The director of Planning, Research and Statistics in the Ministry of Education, Aishatu Aliyu, recently expressed her satisfaction with the progress of pupils at Tilde Fulani School in Toro LGA.
She observed that pupils were effectively using tablets to access lessons and tutorials through the Nigerian Learning Passport, adding that the pupils spend about one and a half hours twice a day using the tablets.
The principal of Junior Government Secondary School Magama, Malam Yakubu Aminu Gayawa, stated that the NLP programme has led to an increase in student enrollment, saying that over 900 students in the school benefited.
