Prof. Victor Mbarika

The management of the Federal College of Education Eha-Amufu, Enugu State has been praised for collaborating with the ICT University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of American on e-learning. The Acting Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Hindatu Abdullahi, gave the commendation during the launching of the e-learning centre at the college by the President, Board of Trustees of the ICTUniversity, U.S, Prof. Victor Mbarika. The Permanent Secretary, who described the partnership as apt, noted that the platform would go a long way in improving the capacity of members of staff and students as well as research profile of the college.

“The need to deploy e-learning to improve teaching and learning in our institutions could not be over- emphasized as the world has become a global village, where the digital divide is the in-thing,” she said, stressing that teachers remain the foundation of human resources development for the attainment of national goals. According to Mrs. Abdullahi, “no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers, and that it is important for the teachers as educators to acquire adequate training and re-training. The permanent secretary, who pledged that the ministry would continue to provide the necessary support to ensure that e-learning is effectively implemented and sustained for the benefit of the people, added that the ministry will continue to provide the needed leadership in order to ensure that the institutions in the country benefit tremendously from e-learning in order to improve quality of education.

“I commend the ICT University for the resources mobilised, such as ICT hardware and accessories for the kick-off of the project in the college,” Mrs. Abdullahi said, even as she applauded the Provost of the college, Prof. Ben Mba, and the entire management for their commitment to ensure the delivery of quality education through e-learning. She urged other tertiary institutions to key into elearning programme, saying it has become imperative in the quest for the transformation of the education system. The President of the ICT University, in his remarks, said the university had taken up the challenge of ICT revolution in African and urged more institutions to join the e-learning programme. Mbarika said: “Africa must write its own ICT history so as to move the continent forward. ICT University collaboration with the colleges is to advance e-learning programme, which will benefit students immensely.”

According to him, the launching of the e-learning would enable staff and students to access about 300,000 textbooks on-line to enhance their academics. “I want to commend the provost for his interest in ICT development which brought about the partnership and I urge other higher institutions in the country to emulate this initiative, “he said. The provost, while welcoming guests to the event, said the aim of the collaboration was to enhance the use of elearning to improve teaching and learning which would in turn improve quality of education.

“This collaboration will facilitate staff exchange programmes as well as raise the quality of research in the college,” Mba pointed out, adding that the partnership will also run ICT programmes that are designed to empower members of the communities, prepare them for job market, and equip them to become entrepreneurs as well as employers of labour. “This e-learning project is expected to have 100 work stations when completed, and to be executed in four phases, with today’s launching being the first phase with 25 work stations consisting 25 computers, 25 webs and 25 headphones,” the provost said.