Education Knowledge | |
Education Knowledge | |
1026 VIEWS | |
![]() |
Monday,
October 26, 2020 / 04:00PM / Eche Munonye / Header Image Credit: FirstBank
The rabbit hole of uncertainty, confusion and fear that
pupils and their parents fell into in the dying days of March when the country
was in lockdown was best captured in a Saturday
Sun feature of May 16, titled, "COVID-19: Troubles of
e-Learning."
The story
catalogues the challenges that erupted out of the disruption caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, the fears and frustrations brewed by the new abnormality
foisted on the world, the pessimism that pervaded the globe from developed to
underdeveloped countries and the possibilities that blew up in the aftermath in
the education stratosphere.
With the new order
of social distancing, self-isolation, government-enforced quarantine and the
ubiquitous lockdown, the prospect of indefinite stay at home until at least an
elusive vaccine is found, loomed. This precipitated a distress as never seen
before in the education space.
Yet, a panacea was at hand: Digital learning, though hitherto given scant attention. But crossing into that nirvana was an uphill task, especially, in this part of the world. Why: The existence of a huge digital deficit both in infrastructure and the requisite skill. The dilemma confronting parents, pupils and tutors are multi-dimensional as illustrated by these three vignettes from the story:
The
absence of curative or prophylactic breakthrough against the virus meant that
academic activities would remain in limbo, while pupils and their parents are
faced with the undaunted possibility of a long spell at home. The prospect of a
long lull of academic inactivity struck a palpable fear that fueled the
scramble unto digital learning platforms as educationists and institutions
across the country experimented with remote learning, albeit on a
trial-and-error basis. The efforts were at best tangled; the process muddled;
the result ineffective. Even, for students of tertiary institutions, the online
class was to many a Lala-land.
With
the option inevitably narrowed down to digital learning, a Catch-22 situation
evolved. Who’s going to make it happen? How? When?
Best
Foot Forward
Eventually,
the first foot forward--and indeed the best one--came and it was from First
Bank Nigeria Limited.
The
bank, a leading financial inclusion services provider, announced its intention
to roll out an innovative e-learning initiative on the heels of its
philanthropic contribution of the sum of one billion naira to the Coalition
Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), a private-sector task force that partners the
Federal Government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World
Health Organisation (WHO) to combat the coronavirus in Nigeria.
In the
months to come, the bank's effort would resonate forcefully in the education
space. The reason for this was not farfetched. Since responsiveness remains a
cornerstone of Corporate Social Responsibility, when it is timely, it becomes a
major coup. The severity of the pandemic required Quncomfortable,
transformative responsiveness,"not the usual CSR response where organisations
choose and design responsiveness on their own terms, described by Wayne Visser
in Evolution and Revolution of Corporate Social Responsibility,
as "when giving is easy and cheque-writing does nothing to upset their
commercial applecart."
Taking
on the e-learning challenge head-on was an self-assigned project for which the
bank was not under any compulsion to undertake. That it volunteered to tackle
the challenge is an indication of the largeness of its CSR aorta.
Suffice
to say that a handful of digital learning initiatives exist before the advent
of the Covid-19 lockdown; the First Bank effort, however, resonates louder
because it has a measurable stated goal: Moving one million pupils into
e-learning platform.
A
Response Apt and Adequate
Lagos
State's prompt response to the pandemic included the immediate shutdown of
schools. By March 25 (four days before Lagos State went into total lockdown on
the order of the President), the First Bank initiative was rolled out, and it
inalienably took the optics of "the" response to the glitch caused to the
education system by the coronavirus pandemic.
First
Bank went into collaboration with Lagos State Government and an indigenous
mobile learning platform, Robert and John Limited, whose trademark Roducate
e-solution, a comprehensive curriculum-based education, is a cornucopia for a
broad spectrum of students.
Having
powered similar projects in the past, Robert and John was an obvious best in
the e-learning business, a fact reinforced by First Bank CEO, Adesola
Adeduntan: "In searching for the best fit solution, several options were
considered by educators and teachers from the state and First Bank over the
last couple of weeks before adjudging Roducate the offering from Robert and
John, an innovative technology firm, to be the best of all reviewed."
Is
Roducate the Rosette stone of online learning? The facts were in its favour.
Its claim of being the "most comprehensive e-learning platform in Nigeria and
indeed Africa" is justified on its curriculum-based education for primary,
secondary, and tertiary students. Moreover, ;it has been active in the
e-learning space as far back as 2014 and has perfected the mechanics of
effective digital learning, winning endorsements along the way from NUC, NERDC,
JAMB and Lagos State Ministry of Education.
And by
tweaking its blueprint, it came up with an e-learning mother lode––lecture
notes, assignments, mock exams, videos, podcasts, and educational games––a rich
vein of contents for primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, structured
in consonance with the government-accredited curriculum. From the interactive
tutorial videos to the innovative feature that enables the learner to take
notes for quick reference, it was a whole new experience and an enjoyable
learning process.
Suffice
to reiterate that the First Bank/LASG Roducate is not the first of its kind;
before it, there was Glo Mobile Tutor (since 2014) and UBA LEARN (unveiled in
2018) amongst others. However, certain factors gave it an edge.
The
Comparative Advantage
The CSR
takeaways from the initiative are writ large in what makes it different from
others––in other words, its comparative advantages.
On the
first count, the effort surfaced at a time of need, a time when there was an
urgent need to close the gap caused by the disruption in children education due
to schools closure following the Covid-19 lockdown. In one fell swoop, a
solution materialised that provided succour for all, from kindergartens kids to
grad-year students of tertiary institutions.
Secondly,
while it is indeed a rolling scheme, it nevertheless came with specific number
goal of one million pupils to be empowered with digital learning; this
calibrated objective makes the intervention easy to evaluate, compared to other
similar initiatives.
Thirdly,
the biggest boon: subscription-free.
Consider
what this means to parents such as the one cited in Sun story who had to shell out approximately N6,
000 for his daughter to access the needed resources. With the First Bank
initiative, students simply get on the platform by registering free at https://www.firstbanknigeria.com/e-learning/.
And
then the masterstroke: the enhanced offline feature of the initiative. It means
students can study offline without having to bear the burden of buying data.
What's more, First Bank gave further impetus by providing 20, 000 devices that
came preloaded with the curriculum.
Elaborating
on the low-end devices preloaded with Roducate offline content, Adeduntan
disclosed that "the phones have SIMs and limited data tied, only, to the
Roducate learning product."
Kayode
Abayomi, the spokesperson for Lagos State Ministry of Education, further hit
the nail on the head. "The devices are efficient and fit for purposes
for all students especially indigent students given the fact that data
consumption of most e-learning solutions has been a major stumbling block for
the majority of students and teachers alike," he said.
Its
fourth edge is from its collaborative nature. One of First Bank's collaborators
on the project is a partner with leverage in the education space: the Lagos
State Government. That made a big difference, as it gave the initiative
authority and legitimacy that immediately gained traction.
In
return, the initiative was well-appreciated by Lagos State Governor Sanwo-Olu: "It is not out of place that we are witnessing more infusion of technology
in learning and this intervention by First Bank could not have come at a better
time."
Lastly,
the First Bank e-learning project took care of both the short-term and the
long-term interest of Nigeria in the digital race. Beyond the exigency of the
moment, which was to get the children into learning mode, the intervention took
on the imperative of helping young Nigerians develop relevant skills in
emerging technologies, thereby enhancing their competitiveness in the
interconnected world of today.
How?
Via two other initiatives, both partnerships with IBM (that schooled youths in
coding Artificial Intelligence, cloud, internet of things, blockchain, data
science, analytics and cybersecurity) and Curious Learning (which offers
academic contents for pre-learning and early-stage children aged 3-8 through
self-guided learning apps). These two threw open the door of digital technology
and made available for free the opportunities to transform them into tech
geeks.
Taking
Responsibilities
For organisations
with a sense of CSR, Covid-19 was an opportunity that was too good to miss.
Where and how they responded depend on their preexisting corporate
responsibility culture, their focus, the heft of their commitment.
Adeduntan
said of the First Bank initiative: "We are warmed by the fact that different
organisations have risen to the various challenges and are supporting in areas
such as health and welfare, and we feel the peculiar needs of our children and
youth must not be left out and have therefore elected to focus on contributing
to solving the current education challenge."
He said
further: "It is a responsible approach to empower them, given that they are
our future and the foundation to build our country to greatness. By partnering
on this, we are solving a problem for families and our future."
In
September, schools re-opened, and education activity, deflated for months,
gradually regains shape and gathers momentum. The number of students enrolled
on the platform has increased significantly. The big question: is it going to
be one of those projects that got abandoned after the ovation died down? Or is
it likely to be sustained?
The cue
is in the stated goal of the initiative. FirstBank has placed on itself the
onus to continue to build on the effort and to give the needed impetus that
will accelerate the achievement of the set goal of 1,000, 000 registered
children in record time. It is expected that FirstBank will sustain the
race to the finishing line.
Related
News
1. Firstbank Reinforces Its Financial Inclusion Drive Through
FirstAdvance Naira Loans
2.
FirstBank Partners LSETF to Offer Funding at Attractive
Interest Rate to Low-cost Private Schools
3.
Smart Money Woman: Firstbank Partners Arese Ugwu, Unveils
TV Series of the Award-Winning Book
4.
International Literacy Day 2020: FirstBank Set the Pace
with Innovative e-learning Solutions
5.
FirstBank Leads Sponsorship of the Voice Nigeria, Partners
Un1ty Nigeria
6.
Firstbank Hosts FINTECH Summit 4.0, Promotes the Growth
and Reinvention of Banking Technology
7.
The Nigerian Education System
Post COVID-19: The Place of Virtual Learning
8.
Digital Skills, Integrity and
Excellence Required to Compete in the New World Order - Akinwuntan
9.
FirstBank Offers Support to
SMEs In Education Sector Through The Pandemic
10. FirstBank's FMAP Graduates
Inaugural Set of Management Associates
11.
FirstBank Presents Devices to
Lagos State Towards Driving 1 Million Students to E-Learning
12. FirstBank Enhances Palliative
Measures, Promotes e-Learning for Nigerians
13. COVID-19: FirstBank Focused on
Solving Education Challenges Facing Parents
14. Firstbank Enhances the
Educational Sector, Supports Schools with Over 10 Billion Naira Loan