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The federal government has expressed its commitment to empowering 50 million citizens with digital literacy by 2027.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said President Bola Tinubu was out to achieve 95 percent digital literacy in the country by 2030. He noted that a digitally literate Nigeria would be a better Nigeria.
Alausa stated this on Friday after a meeting with the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and various heads of agencies within the ministry to discuss the action plan for reaching the government’s midterm target of 70 percent.
He noted that if the 2027 target is met, digital literacy courses would be made mandatory in schools, adding that citizens would also be incentivized to participate.
“Enhancing Nigeria’s digital literacy will better prepare Nigerians for the challenges they may face post graduation and ensure workforce readiness. If we are to achieve our goal of 50 million digitally literate Nigerians by 2027, we must make digital literacy courses mandatory and ensure that Nigerians are incentivized to participate.
“As part of the next steps for implementation, we will collaborate with subnational governments, educational organizations, and relevant associations to update the curriculum and accreditation requirements to include mandatory skills-based testing,” he said.
The Minister of Education promised collaboration with NITDA, the National University Commission (NUC) and the informal sectors to achieve the digital literacy target.
“The Federal Ministry of Education is committed to working with NITDA, our partner agencies such as NUC, NCCE and NBTE, as well as informal sectors, to achieve digital literacy for all Nigerians.
“A digitally literate Nigeria is a better Nigeria,” he added.
Alausa commended Abdullahi for NITDA’s partnership with Cisco to develop certifiable digital literacy content for basic education, universities, and teachers.
He further challenged NITDA and the agencies to go further by including mandatory digital skills testing as part of the accreditation process for lecturers, universities, and polytechnics.
He disclosed that for colleges of education and schools, digital literacy courses will be integrated in the updated curriculum.
Earlier, NITDA DG, Kashifu Abdullahi said a pilot program to annually recruit and train 17,000 NYSC corps members who will deliver skills-based training across all 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory has been launched.
