The Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Olufemi Peters, has said that the university will continue to support the Africa Centre of Excellence in Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) to realise the World Bank’s disbursement requirement.
Peters stated this while playing host to the ACEs Education Thematic experts from Switzerland who paid him a courtesy visit on Wednesday, 1st December, 2021, at the university’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.
Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration (DVC Admin), Prof. Isaac S. Butswat, the VC said that the university was delighted that ACETEL came into existence via the success in bidding which involved many other universities.
‘‘ACETEL benefits both staff and students’ purposes. I have participated in their programmes and earned certificates,’’ he said.
Speaking further, Peters, who encouraged staff to seize the opportunity ACETEL provides, emphasised that capacity building is key.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Technology, Innovation and Research (DVC TIR), Prof. Monioluwa Olaniyi, while commending ACETEL for pushing the university to great visibility said, ‘‘It is our interest to know that we are known in the digital activities we know how to do best, because we are number one in Nigeria in distance learning.’’
L-R: DVC (TIR),Prof.Monioluwa Olaniyi,Prof.Grace Jokthan and Prof.christine Ofulue
Olaniyi revealed that the university, at present, was partnering with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) to train academics in West African countries, adding that ‘‘we bade to be partner institutions, but we were rather upscaled to technical instructors’’.
Earlier in her speech, the centre director, ACETEL, Prof. Grace Jokthan, stated that the Centres of Competencies in Digital Education (C-CoDE) is a project NOUN competed with other ACEs and emerged the best.
She added that the project was expected to benefit the university through the provision of technical infrastructures to enhance content delivery and serve as a hub for the training of academics.
‘‘We have a large student population of about 100,000 and this project will assist the institution in producing quality materials to meet their learning needs,’’ Jokthan said.
The digital expert for education in the ACEs, Dr Dimitrios Noukakis, in his speech emphasised that the purpose of their visit was to ascertain the readiness of the ACE to carry out the C-CoDE project and that 30 faculty members of the project would undergo an online training on technical infrastructure needed in the digital enhanced learning system.
‘‘What we are doing together is extremely important to students. We are ensuring that students are equipped with the right skills and competencies to meet the labour market requirements.’’
The C-CoDE project leader, Prof. Christine Ofulue, who applauded the C-CoDE project, intimated the team that the training was in three sets which include Pedagogical Engineering among others.
‘‘We are glad, C-CoDE project wouldn’t have come at a better time than now,’’ Prof. Ofulue added.
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