LASG Tackles Out-of-school Children Menace With E-learning Platform

Lagos State government has deployed the Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP), an e-learning platform initiative of federal, and state governments in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to address out- of-school children in the state.

 The latest report by UNICEF revealed that 18.5 million children are out of school, a figure that has risen since 2001, and Lagos state is housing over two million of that figure.

 The director, Policy/Planning/Research and Statistics, Ministry of Education, Dr. Adejare Afolabi, at a two-day media dialogue on Digital Learning Platforms, organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lagos State, in collaboration with UNICEF, said the state government had deployed NLP, an audio-visual system to complement the traditional learning method.

  Afolabi said with support from UNICEF, the state government had trained 3,000 facilitators and provided tablets for children, especially those living in hard-to-reach communities, increasing the user’s to  23,000 in the state.

 “We have a huge number of out-of-school children and some who are in the school system are finding it difficult to understand what they are learning. This platform will help them listen, watch, learn and understand better what they are being taught in the classroom. It is a complimentary platform used to boost the normal traditional learning system which we are using to reduce and address such issues, especially in places like Makoko and other suburbs,” he averred.

 Earlier, Blessing Ejiofor, UNICEF communication officer, stated that the programme is organized to spur the media to support advocacy on digital learning solutions for children and young people with a focus on bridging the digital divide, especially for girls and those in hard-to-reach communities.