'ICT Education as Catalyst for National Development'

The legendary Professor of Science, Computer and Environmental Education and President, Global University Network for Innovation GUNI-Africa, Professor Peter Okebukola has described Information and Communications Technology (ICT) education as a catalyst for national development.
Speaking at the maiden ICT Conference and Exhibition at the Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka themed: ‘ICT: Re-engineering a Road Map for Societal Development’, Okebukola said, ICT education is an important lever for accelerating development in all sectors of the economy and it is the human element rather than the machine in ICT that holds the key to development.
He said, "Emphasis therefore needs to be laid on how we can prepare human resources to better deliver the ICT enterprise. ICT gadgets in the hands of the ignorant is like gold before swine."
According to him, though there is a noticeable improvement at all levels of the education system in the use of ICT in schools, it is worth realising that the road ahead is far especially for the public school system.
In his welcome address, the provost of the institution, Dr. Sijibomi Olusanya represented by the Dr. Mrs. Olajumoke Mekilua said, this is the age knowledge explosion, globalisation and technology and with ICT, we can leap forth to higher level of social, economic and political development.
"The Nigerian government has made the development of ICT one of its strategic priorities in order to implement the new world order, growth and transformation agenda. The ICT policy, the incentives and the rise of government expenditure in ICT infrastructure and service are the reflection of the government's commitment to use ICT as a tool for rapid economic growth."
In his speech, Chair, Local Organising Committee of the conference/exhibition  Mr. Sunday Oke said: "This type of gathering usually provides an ideal platform for the exchange of ideas on issues of general and national interest with a view to proffering or initiating practical solution for the benefit of our society in general."
Oke said the wide gap between the ICT sector and the Academic sector makes graduates of tertiary institutions in the country to engage themselves in professional examination of various kinds and it would be difficult to find a better time for addressing this issue than now, given the current national crusade by the government towards creating awareness on the relevance of information technology to education and economic growth.
Head of ICT Department of the school, Mr. Ishola Lawal said the conference/exhibition is to bridge the gap between the ICT industry and the students.
"We are actually trying to address the issue of the gap between the ICT industry and the educational sector. We notice that at the end of the day when we have students from the educational sector, they don't really fit in into the ICT world. Most of them have to go through a lot of professional exams before they can fit in, so this an avenue for the industry and the students to interact so as to bridge the gap."
However, Professor Okebukola recommended that the Federal Ministry of Education should work with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to develop a special training scheme for technical personnel for implementing the ICT in Education policy.
"The institute for Science Laboratory Technology is well positioned to implement the scheme. To sustain the scheme, special incentives should be provided to such technicians or technologists if they are not to be lured to greener pasture in the private sector."Source: daily times