UBEC visits UK, partners iMukoko education project

Senator Abubakar Sadiq Yar’adua and Mr. Umar Iro, UBEC Board representative and Projects Director respectively, have visited the London headquarters of sQuidcard Ltd for a cutting-edge partnership on how digital technology will transform basic education in Nigeria.

They were accompanied by sQuid Nigeria Managing Director, Umar Abdullahi and Project Director, Mobolaji Usman.

The two-day EdTech Forum was hosted by sQuid, whose projects around the world include pioneering education technology programmes and large-scale cashless payment distribution helping marginalised communities to improve children’s education and family livelihoods.

They said the projects had run successfully in Somalia and Kenya and that sQuid would soon provide a real-time attendance monitoring platform for students in schools in five Nigerian states together with an online learning portal to help improve learning.

Adam Smith, the CEO sQuidcard Ltd, said: “Our new project working with Nigerian schools will help build a better future for thousands of children in over 100 communities. Digital tools combined with on-the-ground support will increase engagement in education in often very difficult situations.”

Yar’adua said: “Nigeria is addressing the enormous challenge of how we educate a fastgrowing population. We recognise the need to embrace proven technology solutions to deliver effective education tools to help our teachers and learners. SQUID’s digital platform is proven, and the team has pragmatic experience in Africa.”

Iro said the crisis in education caused by COVID-19 had shown the importance of ensuring that schools benefit from the most up-to-date technologies.