An ambassador of The Education Sustainability and Vocational Development Initiative, Mutiat Temitope Ibrahim has trained 100 students of Novelty International Academy, Kishi, Oyo State, Nigeria, on digital literacy.

The training is part of the Digital Champions Project Digital Literacy Training on Computer fundamentals, skills, working with design techniques & tools, communication, netiquette and understanding the Web (World Wide Web).

Speaking on the project on Friday, Mutiat said, “the project took place in the school from 7th – 26th, and we we impacted 100 students in digital literacy. We also provided the school with Wi-Fi, so they could have access to the internet to practice their lessons.

“As a quality education and girl-child advocate, this programme is conceived due to being a global ambassador for Educational Sustainability and Vocation Development, so basically this is to improve literacy and each child has access to digital skills and others.

“We aimed to impact thousands of children. An ambassador is meant to impact 100 students, that’s how I came about the programme.

“We have planned this for a while now and I’m happy it finally worked. We tried bring it on the fore in Cameroon.

“We provided them with Wi-Fi, so after the training they would fall back in digital studies and skills. We are looking at monthly subscriptions for the school.

“The challenge we have is in funding. We did fundraising yet could not raise enough money for the project,” she said.

Also, the project manager, Wakilat Kikelomo Zakariyah said, “being a World Literacy Foundation Ambassador in 2020 sets the precedence for all my advocacy works, as it relates to Quality Education and Literacy. As an SDG4 (Quality Education) Advocate, the underlying purpose and impact of my literacy work is to promote Quality Education and make it accessible at the grassroots to children, especially the Girl-Child from the deprived sector.

“I want children in the grassroots to have access and to obtain quality education which starts from basic literacy skills which is the ability to read and write.

“Hence my track records revolve around SDG4 and the Girl-Child. Acting as the Project Lead and Manager for Digital Champions Project executed at Novelty Academy, Kishi, Oyo State, is one of the most fulfilling things I’ve experienced this year. It goes without saying that it is one of my 2022 Bucket List.

“I conceived the idea when I was serving at the sister branch of the school– Novelty Polytechnic. Then I found how far away the students were from technology and innovation and I wanted to bridge the gap but I was constraint by human and material resources. After my National service, I harnessed the support that I needed through READ Initiative and kickstarted the project.

“We had no real challenges. I had a solid, indefatigable team and working with them was seamless. What would’ve been the challenge would be the distance but technology and the support I got from my team made it all work out well. I did not have to be present before they got the job done. In fact, I was only there on the grand finale throughout the three weeks training.”

Wakilat, who was also a World Literacy Foundation Ambassador 2020 said that the most fulfilling moment was seeing the joy on the children’s faces.

Acting Head of Department, Computer Science, Novelty Polytechnic, Kishi, Abdulmuqtadir Yunus said his involvement in the project was due to passion.

“My passion for training the coming generation led to my first campaign which is techknow-kids. I have organized series of training classes ever since then till date using different platform. Afterwards, I co-founded the biggest tech-community in Kishi.

“The most fulfilling moment is that against all odd, I saw to the success of the training. The joy at the end is immeasurable.

“My prospective plan is to ceate a great space profile on the internet.”

Furthermore, a volunteer, Adeola Musbaudeen Bakare said his involvement in the project born out from passion to impart in young talents.

Adeola, who is also an agriculturist and a learning facilitator at Novelty International Academy, stated that “in this 21st century, digital skill is actually dominion over all other skills. Without the knowledge of computer, then other skills cannot function to their full lengths. This means that, it’s an indispensable skill to getting other things done properly in this generation of ours.

“This is why I was enthusiastic to be involved immediately I was informed.

The little challenge encountered was when there was power outage that caused the programme not to hold for the day and challenge is the limited available PC for the students but every problem was overcome.

“Continuity of the programme would be fine if there can be a standby tutor in the school. Financial support and follow up would equally be helpful in the long run.”

The Education Sustainability and Vocational Development Initiative is a national development organization dedicated to empowering one child, one school, one teacher, and one community to ensure equal access to educational opportunities by working through volunteers and partners.