BY EMEKA AGINAM
In partnership with the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria, CPN, the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, the Federal Government yesterday in Abuja unveiled National Standards for Information Technology Education for teaching and learning of IT.

The national curriculum of IT education is a standard document at all levels for teachers, students, educational administrators and other stakeholders in education.

The CPN annual IT  Professionals’ Assembly/Annual General Meeting is a yearly gathering of Information Technology practitioners in Nigeria and Diaspora with the objective of discussing and strategizing on emergent issues in  IT  in order to come out with recommendations and decisions that will impart positively on the industry and the nation.

The Minister of Education,  Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike  while launching the standard document  at CPN   2014 IT Professionals Assembly  with  the theme: Harnessing the potentials of IT professionals for national development told the gathering that  the document  which sets clear standards for IT education  will be  implemented immediately at all levels of education starting from  early childhood to  tertiary education.

The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education MacJohn  Nwaobiala said that the purpose of the compulsory document is to guide the development of IT education at all levels in the country in a way that graduates of the Nigerian educational system will be better positioned to compete both nationally and internationally.

According to him, the goals of IT education at al levels are to provide a strong foundation for teaching, learning, research, innovation and development, provide opportunities for students tl learn about themselves and the environment using IT tools and devices, among others.

The curriculum, the Minister said should be consistent with the objectives of the early childhood and education (ECCE) of 3 years duration.

“We still face the challenge of inadequacy of ICT infrastructure, including low bandwidth for internet access, epileptic power supply, insufficient pool of IT Professionals and low ICT literary among teachers and educational administrators.

“As a result, it is difficult to embrace the current educational pedagogy which emphasis students-centred instruction with the teacher as the facilitator rather than teacher as the source of knowledge.

“In addition, there is problem of curricurrum obsolescence    and high curriculum dynamism in ICT, poor regulation of ICT education delivery especially at the non-formal sector, inequality in the distribution of ICT education personnel and resources in favor of   private and urban schools as against public and rural schools, low research on ICT in education and poor funding” he explained.

If Nigeria must attain global competitiveness, the Minister said that both the public and private sectors must work together to address these challenges.

The resolution of these challenges, he said will inevitably result in narrowing the digital divide and create knowledge society that will provide the country with comparative advantages in an increasingly competitive global village.

The Chairman of the Council of CPN,  Alhaji Sekinat Yusuf earlier in her remarks said that the national standard in IT education if well implemented will  enable digital learning in the Nigerian educational system.

According to her, CPN was committed in regulating the practice of IT in the country, adding that successful contributions to meeting the Vision 20: 2020 were most likely to be made through the development and deployment of ICT in education.