By Chioma Obinna

The imperative for sustainable partnership between the universities and the industry to train next generation of skilled work force in the Tech ecosystem, able to take up sensitive leadership roles at top Nigerian and global companies has been canvased by a university don. 

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement event in Port Harcourt organised by Educatial, a software-as-a-service ecosystem platform, Head of Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Rivers State University, Prof. Barigbon Gbara Nsereka, said universities should partner with tech companies like Educatial to transit to new methods of teaching and learning in our universities that will prepare the Nigerian graduate for global competitiveness.

 ”It is important that the Nigerian educational system be reviewed to specifically incorporate the right contents that would not only adequately produce skilled individuals for the workforce but furnish them with critical abilities that would prove useful to the entire nation when applied”, Nsereka said.  He listed the eight skill areas for the future to include Artificial Intelligence, AI, augmented reality, block chain, drones, internet of things, robotics, 3D printing and virtual reality. 

During his presentation at the Educatial stakeholders’ roundtable, Digital strategist, Mr. Celestine Achi said Educatial, a software as-a-service tech ecosystem is putting   Nigeria on the threshold of revolution in the education sector as a new e-learning platform.

 with multiple applications that will enable the students acquire competencies in the eight areas of skills with global demand listed by Nsereka.

  Mr. Achi said Educatial is a one-stop digital ecosystem for everything education. “It is a convergence of learning management system, course management system and information management system”, he explained. 

Achi  enumerated some of the Educatial  product features of the software as-a-service ecosystem platform to include EduSims, an integrated information school management system that operates a robust, secure and centralised data information management platform with a suite of portals for parents, students and staff that give schools full control of administrative, academic, admissions, finance and wellbeing information. 

Other unique features of Educatial according to him include EduSocials- a social media network designed to bridge social and educational  gaps among students, teachers and across institutions worldwide. EduFund bridges the gap between education and funding by providing easy access to funds for students and schools while EduInteliigence provides useful insights on learners and administrators’ performances. 

According to Achi, Educatial is targeted at educational institutions: primary, post-primary and tertiary. It is also useful for training centres and professional bodies such as ICAN, Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Institute of Marketing, among others. Educatial is also very useful for content creators, study-at-home learners, government agencies, churches, etc. 

Founder of Educatial Mr Francis Muofunanya said during his opening speech at the event that the Software-as-a-service platform was developed by a team of indigenous software engineers in response to the increasing need for online learning following the disruptions in the academic calendar by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Mr Muofunanya, education will revolutionise education in Nigeria as it will provide quality and affordable learning for students in both rural and urban areas. It consists of “more than 20 uniquely different but interconnected tools that are engaging, impactful and fun to use and at the same time useful in community-led learning. It provides for accountability in the learning process as both teachers and parents can monitor real-time the performance of the students. The students are also able to access the lecturers’ teaching methods and outputs.