There are today various digital knowledge domains including but not limited to Khan Academy, Coursera, Udacity, Udemy, edX, all of which offer free quality contents to learners across the globe. Not only do they bring knowledge, they do it in less stressful and more appealing means. The contents cover the entire spectrum of education and in all areas of learning.

*Foluso Falaye

The scope continues to expand daily as new programs are launched. Bill Gates was said to have used one of such platforms to assist his child; the success of that exercise encouraged him to support the platform through his foundation so that disadvantaged children across the world can use it.

Foluso Falaye, a first class graduate of Computer Science from the University of Lagos, banker and computer technology expert, President and Managing Director, CBC Emea Group of Companies and an alumnus of Owo High School, came up with this model of learning for public schools In Nigeria.

Having developed the drive to contribute to building a better society for future generations, he has been very concerned with the plight of public schools’ infrastructure. Falaye’s  concerns for the level of deterioration of public schools infrastructure gave birth to the commissioning of a Digital Resource Centre at Owo High School, on Tuesday, May 24, 2018, a centre he built and donated to the school. He believes that if changes would happen in the larger society, attention must be paid to children especially those that are still in their formative years. Falaye  explains the drivers of his passion: “It would be right to say that many of today’s leaders and captains of industries were products of public school system. I am not sure these same leaders would be happy to send their children and wards to the same schools in view of the dilapidation and low quality.

“Having considered this fact, in 2016, I commenced an intervention in my alma mater, Owo High School, with a view to assist in improving quality of education and learning delivery. My approach is to leverage the evolving world of digital education by providing appropriate state-of-the-art shared facility that both teachers and students can use to access the educational content across the globe and deliver same to students”.

The digital resource center basically is a facility containing two learning areas each with sitting capacity of hundred students. It has two adjoining teacher preparatory rooms. These preparatory rooms are to be used by teachers/instructors to plan their lessons based on available contents on the digital platform.

The facility can be used for several learning events including but not limited to curriculum-based learning such as preparing students for WASC, JAMB, NECO, etc. It can be used for non-curricula learning such as introducing children to the art of computer programming, Web Development, Robotics etc.

The Governor of Ondo State, who was represented by his Deputy, Hon. Agboola Ajayi, could not hide his excitement while commissioning the facility as he thanked the donor of the centre, and individuals who have contributed various awards towards achieving the vision of turning Owo High School into a center of excellence for the gesture, vowing that his administration will not relent in creating an enabling environment needed for moral and functional education in the state.