The Federal Government has confirmed the revocation of a contract for the building of a smart school in Kebbi State and is on the verge of doing the same in Bayelsa State, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tanko Sununu has said.
Speaking Tuesday (today, August 13) while taking a tour of the FCT Smart School in Karshi, alongside the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, Sununu confirmed that the contract for Kebbi project has been awarded to another company to handle, warning that the government also re-award the contract for the project in Bayelsa State after the due process is completed.
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He said: “The two schools in the two states, Kebbi and Bayelsa, are lagging behind. The one in Kebbi State has been revoked and rewarded to another contractor, while the Bayelsa is also undergoing due process of revocation, and might also be rewarded so that no state will be left behind in the smart school application of technology in education.”
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He also decried the failure of some states whose smart schools have been completed and handed over, to supply the federal government with 75 teachers to be trained so as to run the schools.
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He, therefore, called on other States to emulate the FCT Administration which is already providing roads and hostel accommodation to expand the scope of the smart school infrastructure in its domain with a full complement of staff.
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Sununu also called on traditional rulers and residents of Karshi, to provide adequate security for the facilities as they are the primary beneficiaries of their services before other Nigerians.
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Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, had explained that the Smart School project was initiated and funded by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in collaboration with Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), to increase the capacity of teachers in the development and use of ICT content, and to improve the access of teachers and pupils to quality teaching and learning materials.Â
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He confirmed that Nigeria’s education system is being directed towards technology-enhanced learning to help nurture the thinking and creativity of the students.
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“We need institutions that can integrate personal learning and take technology right from the beginning, and make learning interactive for toddlers. Learners take from the foundation and from there to build up to university level. It helps to nurture their thinking and creativity. This is the direction that our education is going,” he said.Â
