19th-23rd June 2023

The technical support activity took place at the Model Smart School in Tarda, Kano State and a four-member technical team facilitated the sessions while the DRC team was led by the National Coordinator, Prof Bashir Galadanci. Before the commencement of the exercise, the technical team conferred and decided to re-design the reporting tool to reflect the task ahead, primarily providing technical support to the teaching staff.

The team members were grouped into two and each group was made up of one blended learning expert and one ICT expert, to effectively support 16 teachers and 23 subjects. The teachers and subject cut across three levels in the school, namely, ECCDE, Primary and Junior Secondary School were effectively covered within the five days allotted. Each teacher was given technical support during the delivery of all teaching subjects and some teachers were attended to more than once to adequately supervise the lesson delivery of all subjects. The observation method was applied by the technical team throughout the exercise and feedback was provided after the classes. The team also offered a mentorship session for the teachers.

Generally, the teachers in the UBE Model Smart School, Tarda, Kano State, have made appreciable progress in the journey towards mastering the use of blended learning in the teaching and learning process although there is still room for improvement.

6th July 2023

The Digital Resource Center, UBEC hosted the 2nd meeting of SUBEB chairs of the 6 KOICA supported States consisting of, Anambra, Bauchi, Cross River, Ekiti, Kano and Nasarawa States. The meeting was organized by KOICA and well attended by the UBEC Executive Secretary as well as members of Management.

In his address, the Country Director of KOICA, Mr Son Sungil warmly welcomed all participants to the meeting. He reiterated the commitment of the Korean government in supporting Nigeria towards the successful implementation of the smart school programme. In that regard, the Country Director outlined the efforts exerted by KOICA in successfully sponsoring a 20-man high-level study tour team to South Korea in September 2022. An invitational leadership training activity for 19 smart school Principals also took place in Seoul, South Korea in December 2022. Presently, arrangements have been concluded for a 3-week training of 30 guiding teachers in the field of Mathematics and Science in Seoul, by the end of July 2023.

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the UBE Commission, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, appreciated KOICA’s earnest support. He acknowledged the Executive Chairs and urged them to grant the UBE Model smart schools programme the seriousness it deserves. Dr Bobboyi also advised them to actively communicate with their respective State Governors on the imperatives of a feasible sustainability plan for the Model smart schools established in their States.

10th-14th July 2023

The UBE Commission through the Digital Resource Center has conducted a round of inspection visits to 13 smart school projects in 13 states of the federation. The projects were jointly monitored by the UBEC Department of Physical Planning, ICT Unit, Zonal and State offices as well as ad-hoc committee members of the Smart Schools Committee.
Since most of the model smart schools’ infrastructure is almost completed, some have been selected for the commencement of activities by the September 2023/2024 academic session. To this end, an appraisal of the selected smart schools was undertaken to ascertain the level of project completion and preparedness for the take-off of academic activities and determine the supply and installation of furniture, ICT equipment, and other necessary components.
Additionally, the exercise aimed to offer a platform to interface with relevant stakeholders involved in driving the teaching/learning process while identifying and addressing any challenges before the start of operations in the selected smart schools.
The 13 smart school projects visited consisted of Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Cross River, Ekiti, Gombe, FCT, Katsina, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun, Oyo and Sokoto States respectively.

27th July

A one-day orientation programme was conducted by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in collaboration with the Digital Resource Center, UBEC. The Country Director Mr Son Sungil warmly welcomed the selected trainees to the event and expressed delight in finally meeting the deserving candidates before they departed for South Korea for the 3-week training and wished them successful exercise in South Korea.

The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi in his speech explained the purpose behind the establishment of the Smart schools in Nigeria and the enormous support received from KOICA in that regard. He elucidated that the training of guiding teachers in the field of Mathematics and Science is part of the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Nigeria and Korea. The ES implored the trainees to be keen and attentive to the training activity while in Korea and urged them to be good ambassadors of Nigeria.

In the same vein, the National Coordinator of the DRC, Professor Bashir Galadanci in his address also welcomed the participants to the orientation programme. He stated that the teacher selection process was indeed a rigorous one as can be attested by the trainees while emphasizing that upon their return to Nigeria, the teachers are expected to revolutionize the education system in the country by cascading their newly acquired knowledge and expertise to other teachers nationwide.

The 21-day invitational training was organized by KOICA to support UBEC to equip Smart School teachers with the requisite 21st-century digital skills in a bid to move world-class quality basic education forward in Nigeria. The trainees were drawn from the six KOICA-supported States of Anambra, Bauchi, Cross River, Ekiti, Kano and Nasarawa.

24th-28th July 2023

The UBE Commission through the Digital Resource Center conducted a comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) exercise in two smart schools in Tarda, Kano State and Ilorin, Kwara State currently operating a pilot third term. The activity aimed to ensure that the pilot third term achieves its set objectives while providing the Commission with valuable insight into the effectiveness of the smart school program in addition to identifying areas that require improvement.

To spearhead the activity, UBEC Senior Staff, SUBEB officials and technical experts on the blended learning methodology and ICT skillsets from Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Polytechnics were grouped into two teams for each State.

The goals of the exercise were to ensure teaching and learning activities are aligned with the National Curriculum standards and assess the suitability of the learning environment, infrastructure, equipment and devices, as well as the overall competence of the teachers. The activity also sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the school administration, assess learners’ progress and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching strategies on Blended Learning techniques. Furthermore, the monitoring, evaluation and learning exercise focused on identifying areas for improvement to facilitate better learning outcomes.

20th July 2023

The National Coordinator of the Digital Resource Center organized a meeting between UBEC and the two content developers (Cinfores and Flexisaf) for the Commission at the DRC office. The objectives of the meeting were to discuss and verify the current status of the Learning Management System (LMS), School Management System (SMS) and their user manuals, the actual number of new contents developed, and the challenges encountered in the use of the content deployed to the pilot smart schools in Kano and Kwara States. The meeting also aimed to bring to the fore other prevailing issues and identify ways of solving them before the new academic session, when other smart schools are expected to commence activities.

As part of the resolutions reached at the end of the meeting, Flexisaf will deliver more content to be accessed via google drive and provide the criteria for the verification of the content to ensure a smooth process. Cinfores however, suggested a brief workshop to be held with the DRC staff to demonstrate how the content can be verified for suitability and accuracy, particularly for those that require modification. A template will be developed to contain a mode of conveyance which is either cloud-based, on a hard drive or a Google document. They further disclosed that 70% of the proposed new contents are ready while 30% need to be reviewed. Statistics of available content are 298 out of the proposed 600 video content with 80 more to be ready by the 12th of August, while the rest of the content will be ready by the 12th of September 2023.

A training session is scheduled for the 1st and 2nd weeks of August 2023 for teachers on the LMS and SMS platforms, to initiate their use, and train them on how to utilize it. The 1st batch will be for school administrators while the 2nd will comprise teachers in the 15 schools in 6 Geo-political zones.

21st July 2023

The National Coordinator of the Digital Resource Center, UBEC, Professor Bashir Galadanci, accompanied by senior staff of the Center, led the staff of KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) and the UBION Consortium during the facility tour of the building. The purpose of the outing was to inspect the three main buildings of the center and assess the progress of the construction and installation work.

The Center is nearing completion and is expected to be ready for use soon. The facility tour showcased the state-of-the-art infrastructure and amenities available at the center, as well as the apparent commitment of UBEC to provide a 21st-century learning environment. Some of the facilities available at the new DRC include a 500-person capacity Auditorium, an e-library, a Virtual Reality Lab, an artificial intelligence Lab, Lecture rooms, meeting rooms, a Guest Lodge and Offices.

The Center is designed to cater for the educational and training needs of teachers and education professionals, provide opportunities for research and development in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and offer an ideal setting for interactive learning sessions.

The UBEC Digital Resource Center is poised to become a hub for innovation, knowledge sharing and capacity development in the field of education in Nigeria. The completion of this Center represents a significant milestone in the efforts to enhance the quality of education and promote digital literacy in the country.

21st July 2023

The Digital Resource Center, UBEC held a meeting with the official network service providers for the UBE Model Smart Schools in Nigeria. Galaxy Backbone is responsible for the procurement, supply and installation of all networking Equipment and Accessories in Seven (7) Model 1 Smart Schools in the Six (6) Geo-Political Zones and the FCT.

The National Coordinator, DRC, Prof. Bashir Galadanci presented the agenda for the meeting which was focused on the provision of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) power required at all school locations, 10KVA Direct Power Source (PHCN or Generator) for powering the mini data centre rack and the physical security of equipment to be installed at all sites. Furthermore, the need for UBEC representatives to receive the delivery of devices, conduct user acceptance tests with Galaxy engineers on site and sign off on the job completion certificate was greatly underscored.

On their part, Galaxy Backbone gave a project progress report stating that the installation and testing of network equipment were completed in the smart school site in Daura. The sites in Bauchi, Karshi and Lafia have also completed installations but are awaiting testing. However, Lagos, Edo and Owerri do not have provision for conduit wiring thus the delay of LAN installation at these sites. All active devices are presently available at the Galaxy Backbone warehouse in Abuja ready to be delivered to UBEC.