The Federal Ministry of Education has said that it would work on the inclusion of coding, robotics and artificial intelligence into the country’s school curricula so as to take pupils to the 21st Century technology and educational standards.
Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, Minister of State for Education, stated this in Abuja at the 2019/2020 Nigeria Championship in Robotics, noting that the country’s 104 Federal Unity Colleges had been given a directive and would be the first to adopt the coding and robotics programme.
The robotics championship was organised by the Coderina Education and Technology Foundation in collaboration with the federal ministry.
Qualifying pupils will represent Nigeria at the global robotics stages in the United States, Greece and Australia respectively.
The minister said that the robotics would broaden the horizon of pupils, adding that the changes in curricula and programmes were to prepare them for the knowledge-driven economy.
He said, “Our efforts are in line with Ministerial Strategic Plan on the Sustainable Development Goal, which is the provision of quality education for all. This, we are working to achieve in line with SDG 17, by forging partnerships and collaboration with organisations within the public, private and non-profit sector.
“The world of today and that of the foreseeable future is one where individuals move between digital domains and offline reality with the use of technology to enable and manage life.
“This will enable the country to empower and fully equipped the youths to be players at the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution skills to get them ready for the future.”
Mr Michael Ahamefuele, coordinator of Bliss Robotics Education Hub, one of the participating firms, said Nigeria would benefit “a lot from investing in the robotic fields” while supporting that artificial intelligence and robotics be included in the school curriculum.
Source: Comms week
