26th-27th March 2024

In furtherance of activities towards activating the research unit of the DRC UBEC, a two-day workshop on research proposal screening and execution modalities was organized to galvanize research activities and its potential to revolutionize the basic education subsector in Nigeria.

The workshop also aimed to review several recommended research topics, select expert researchers and elicit germane feedback from the screening committee that will improve the delivery of world-class basic education in the country.

Ultimately, the outcomes of the workshop are expected to prioritize research areas and allocate selected researchers to execute it with a grant to be provided by the commission.

20-22nd March 2024

The Universal Basic Education Commission’s Digital Resource Center organized a face-to-face termly review meeting that was held in all fourteen operational UBE Model Smart Schools across the country.

The exercise is a follow-up of the monthly catch-up meetings held virtually with administrators of the functional smart schools aimed at updating the DRC and streamlining activities of the smart schools towards achieving its set objectives.

The exercise was an interactive meeting with the school administrators; the Principals, Headteachers, Heads of ECCDE and IT Managers of the respective Smart Schools. The desk officers of the smart schools were also active participants in the conduct of the meeting. The overall infrastructure, equipment, technological resources, safety measures and administrative support systems were assessed to ascertain progress and challenges encountered during the school term while evaluating the strategies planned for improved performance.

18th-20th March 2024

Quality assurance officers from UBEC and SUBEB participated in a 3-day training workshop held at the UBEC Digital Resource Center, Abuja.

The objective of the training was to provide participants with knowledge and skills related to the Smart Education Initiative and the Blended Learning approach. It focused on enabling the participants to effectively apply mechanisms for the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) exercise. The validation of the monitoring and evaluation tool to be used in UBE Model Smart Schools was done to improve its effectiveness while covering the effective implementation of blended learning in these schools.

The M&E Officers were nominated from the fourteen (14) states with operational Smart Schools to participate in the training exercise. The workshop was facilitated by the Resource Persons through lecture presentations, syndicate exercises, case studies and the use of multi-media equipment, making the training mostly interactive

14th March 2024

A team of officials from the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) held a meeting with the Digital Resource Center, UBEC to explore areas of partnership and support.

During the meeting, the National Coordinator of the Center, Professor Bashir Galadanci highlighted the relationship between UBEC and JICA in Education specifically on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Some of the discussions also centred on the UBE Model Smart School Programme.

The JICA team lead, Mr Yuzurio Susamu expressed delight in meeting with the UBEC DRC team. He recounted the successful implementation of the SMASE programme anchored by JICA in schools across the country. The team lead however noted that since the programme period elapsed, there are identified gaps that still need to be addressed in the education sector. He observed that Nigeria is keen to advance the education sector and there is still work to be done in that regard. Mr Yuzurio also revealed that JICA is gearing to mobilize resources to start up a pilot project aimed at teacher professional development and other related endeavours.

4th-8th March 2024

A 5-day training program on Smart Education and Blended Learning was conducted for teachers of 109 Effective Schools (formerly known as E-learning Centers) at the Digital Resource Center, UBEC.

Delivering the welcome address, the National Coordinator, DRC, Professor Bashir Galadnci representing the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi appreciated the teachers for taking part in the training. He explained that Effective Schools strive to enhance the quality of learning outcomes in the basic education sector by providing a combination of conventional and digital learning methods, which are an extension of the smart school programme.

The training was organized to provide the teachers with the necessary skills to mentor and supervise the Teacher Internship Scheme (TIS) interns assigned to the 109 Effective Schools. The goal is to ensure these interns are well-versed in Smart Education and Blended Learning. Each Effective School in every senatorial zone of Nigeria was represented by one teacher for the training exercise.

While delivering his goodwill message, the Director of the Department of Teacher Development, Mr Aleshin Mayowa underscored the crucial role of skilled teachers in the success of the Effective Schools across the Country.

26th February-1st March 2024

The Digital Resource Center, UBEC held a 5-day training workshop for selected smart teachers on core foundational instructional design and multimedia content development. A total of 27 teachers, 3 from each school, participated in the activity.

The workshop had the goal of empowering teachers to create engaging, interactive gamified content and instructional materials for Smart Schools, E-Learning Centres and other public schools. To achieve this, a team of seasoned experts facilitated the training on various modules and conducted intensive practical sessions on instructional design, multimedia content authoring and gamified learning tools like MS PPT, Canva for Education, Inshot, Padlet, Socrative and Google Form. The training also included foundational courses like principles and models of instructional design such as ASSURE, Kemp and Universal Design for Learning principles, among others.

At the end of the workshop, each participant showcased a digital content sample. Thus, a homegrown approach to digital learning and content development was introduced. A solid foundation was also laid for building a pool of skilled educators for the UBEC digital learning content development drive towards improved teaching and learning outcomes in Nigeria.

21st-23rd February 2024

A three-day workshop was held to thoroughly assess and critique all digital content developed by Cinfores and Flexisaf, to ensure that they meet the required standards. As part of this appraisal, three teachers from each of the 13 functional smart schools were invited to participate in the exercise.

The Commission has made significant investments in the creation of high-quality, easily accessible digital content for smart schools, to be used for teaching and learning. Due to the large number of resources developed by content creators, it has become necessary to scrutinize and review this content to ensure that it meets the required standards of quality and relevance.

UBEC contracted two content development companies, Cinfores and Flexisaf, to curate high-quality digital resources. These resources include over 1000 digital content, such as videos, games, quizzes, virtual experiments, and animations among others.

19th-21st February 2024

The Digital Resource Center, UBEC organized a two-day leadership training programme for the administrators of eight operational Smart Schools in the country. The activity covered the rudiments of integrating technology in education and the principles of instructional leadership. In attendance at the training were the Principals, Headteachers, Heads of ECCDE and IT Managers of smart schools in Adamawa, Benue, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, Kwara, Niger and Osun States.

A similar training was conducted by the Korea International Corporation Agency (KOICA) for the administrators of the six KOICA-supported Smart Schools at the DRC from 10th–11th January 2024, as part of the terms of the MoU signed between UBEC and KOICA on the implementation of smart education in Nigeria.

Consequently, to cascade the same competencies down to the Smart School administrators and ensure uniformity in the Smart School system, a stepdown of the same leadership training for the eight non-KOICA-supported operational smart schools was conducted.

8th-9th February 2024

The Digital Resource Center UBEC organized a two-day workshop to collaborate with the Co-Creation Hub on setting up the DRC Teachers’ Lounge.

The Executive Secretary of UBEC in his remarks expressed delight to meet the officials of CC Hub during the workshop. He stated the need for a paradigm shift from the traditional method of education delivery in the country in line with global standards. He emphasized that to achieve this goal, Nigeria needs to proactively integrate technology into basic education delivery. He affirmed the commitment of UBEC in ensuring the change and collaborating with CC Hub is one of the steps in the right direction towards achieving this target.

CC Hub operates a teachers’ lounge that provides educators with a free space to collaborate and learn germane skills and competencies for improved teaching and learning. The lounge offers a unique learning experience for teachers through games, learning apps, co-learning sessions, and inquiry-based techniques to promote the adoption of effective teaching methodology in the classroom. These strategies are aimed at improving learning outcomes in the Nigerian educational system.