Mrs. Olatundun Adekunte is the Director, Bureau of Information Technology in an agency helping to drive the vision of the Ogun State government on ICT. In this encounter, with The Business Package, Adekunte speaks about the STEAM training for students in the state as well as the goals of the initiative among sundry issues.
Excerpts.
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Q: You are the Director Bureau of IT in Ogun State, what are the activities within the purview of your Bureau ?
The Bureau of Information Technology is driving the ICT objectives of the Ogun State government and it has undertaken a number of innovative projects with a view to achieve its overall objectives, some of which are the installation of Teleconferencing Infrastructure at the Office of the Governor: A virtual court session was implemented between the Chief Judge court room and the correctional court centre at Ibara,Online Government/Mdas Virtual Presence Post Covid: These include, the virtual celebration of Children’s Day, Governor’s 100 days in office, Women in Tech Week, State Executive meetings, Ogun State procurement law & improving SME, amongst others, E-Government Master-Plan With National Information Technology Agency (Nitda): Stakeholder meeting with Federal Government’s NITDA on implementing an e-Government master-plan for the State,ABOCODERS Female Coding Classes: This project aims at improving the lives of the female gender by establishing secure and sustainable livelihoods for them using ICT training,
Official Launch Of The Ogun Tech Hub Academy And Full Recognition By Cisco Networking Academy: Ogun Tech Hub signed a partnership/membership agreement with CISCO Networking Academy, making the Tech Hub academy a Cisco Networking Academy, ICT Training with Cisco Networking Academy and NCS Ogun State Chapter: BIT offers professional IT skill training in collaboration with Nigeria Computer Society on some CISCO certified courses. Over 200 participants enrolled/benefitted from the Post COVID virtual classes,
Cisco Learn-A-Thon Cyber Security Training: Ogun Tech Hub Academy participated with 374 registered participants in the Cyber Security organized by Cisco, trainings on Digital marketing, Data Science in collaboration with Data s ience Nigeria, Internet of things ...... among others and the current ICT Summer Camp is one among many of such.
Q: What is the involvement of your Bureau with the Ogun Tech Hub ?
A: Ogun Tech hub is a subsidiary of Bureau of IT, It is a capacity development and incubation center for everything ICT in the state seehttps://techhub.ogunstate.gov.ng) while Bureau of IT is the administrative body guiding Ogun Tech Hub and ensuring that it's activities are in accordance with the State's IT Policy.
Q: We understand that there is a Summer Camp on ICT for pupils in Ogun State, what is this about and what are the aims ?
A: The summer STEAM coaching is organised by Ogun State Bureau of Information Technology in collaboration with Nigeria Computer society, Ogun State Chapter , STEAM ACADEMY, and OMO-OYE Foundation.
Q. What do you mean by STEAM?
A: STEAM summer coaching offer children the chance to learn, grow, and explore new modes of thinking and doing things. A STEAM summer program cannot only boost academic performance during the school year, it can also build confidence, creativity, resilience and independence. The children are better equipped in a way as they are on holiday.They are introduced to several courses like Binary and Algorithm, 3D Animation, Graphics design, Web development, Scratch,etc.
All these are skills that are incredibly valuable to future employers, as well as fellow community members.The children feel more supported during this period and can also help them to take greater academic risks once they resume for normal academic activities.
Q: What are some of the centres the trainings are taking place and how many pupils are involved?
A: This present summer coaching on STEAM, we are able to take it to only four centres, which are, Ogun Techhub Centre, Kobape road here in Abeokuta with about 105 students, Ijebu Imushin Centre at Honorable Wale Oshun Foundation Hall Ita-Marun, Ijebu Imushin with about 211 students, Ilisan Remo Centre at Babcock University holding about 114 students and Ota at CKC House study center ijoko Road, Ijoko having about 40 students.
We plan to achieve 95% but unfortunately we are only able to touch four local government for now which is less than 25%. The centre at Ijebu Imushin was sponsored by Comrade Tunde Oladunjoye, while that of Ota was sponsored by the former Ogun State Head of Service, Tpl (Mrs.) Amope Chokor-
Q: Have there been any discoveries among the students and or participants?
A: Yes, we have been able to discover the urge and the creativity in some of the students across all the four zones.The idea of STEAM is to teach students/pupils that they don’t have to be only analytical or only creative, but they can be both.To be successful both now and down the road, one must be both an analytical thinker and a creative thinker. We also discovered that some of the students that were adjudged to be academically poor were able to show high level of assimilation and understanding through the methodological approach to education STEAM offers which is quite different from the normal four walls of classroom.
Q: What other plans are in the offing ?
A: We have a lot of plans for these students most especially the Ogun state students.We want to create an avenue to continue this project through enhancing how students learn and teachers teach by incorporating STEAM curriculum and project-based learning into the school curriculum. We also plan to mentor this students by creating STEAM clubs in all schools in the three Senatorial Districts in Ogun state so these schools can engage in STEAM hackaton events.
Q: Specifically, what are the ICT policy of the present administration in the state ?
A:The ICT policy of His Excellency Prince Dapo ABIODUN is to achieve an IT-driven state by using ICT tools as the engine for Sustainable Development and global competitiveness with the mission to deploy technology in governance, while offering efficient service delivery to the populace.
The state also sees this policy as a way to respond to the emerging global reality in the technology space, while ensuring that it doesn’t become a victim of the digital divide in the long run.But beyond having a broad vision, the stated objectives of the policy are not so definite, they include: provision of attractive career opportunities, development of requisite skills in various aspects of ICT, development of indigenous software to earn foreign exchange, development of domestic computer components.
With the Bureau of Information Technology (BIT) which was established in 2003 and currently being reinvigorated according to the policy document to establish and develop a State Information Infrastructure (SII) Backbone and Local Information Infrastructure (LII). Aside from the information infrastructure to be developed, the policy will also see to the establishment of the Ogun State Information and Communication Technology Development Fund (OGITDF) and Ogun State IT Procedure and Regulation (OGITPR). There will also be IT zones and IT Villages across all the senatorial districts of the state.
Q: .What is your take about the capacity of ICT to transform the lives of the youths as well as help them beat the bug of unemployment?.
A: ICT is emerging as a potentially powerful elements in youth workforce development with the capacity for economic empowerment, migration and participation
Q: Advice to Parents and or caregivers?
A: The involvement of parents and other caregivers in their children learning is crucial to their children’s interest in and ability to learn Science.
Even, students who do not want to pursue scientific or Engineering careers can benefit from STEAM education, as they learn skills like critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and teamwork which can help them in any field. We need the unwavering commitment and support from our parents and caregivers to help the children achieve their dreams and also help and support us to help them.
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