Nigeria eager for ‘coding’ partnership with RoboGarden–Minister

President Muhammadu Buhari’s re invigorated commitment to promoting education, through holistic technological embrace, resonated on August 4 at an educational webinar where RoboGarden appeared a willing partner.

Organized by Ovana E-Learning  in collaboration with a Canadian RoboGarden, the Webinar, among other things,  focused on bringing transformation in Nigeria digital economy,  offering scholastically unique technology-driven solutions that lead to critical thinking and achievement of excellence in higher learning outcomes as well as creating  bright new opportunities for individuals and the entire community.

 Speaking through his personal assistant, Muna Onuzo, Minister of State for Education, Dr. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, emphasized Nigeria’s preparedness in arming children with coding knowledge. This, he said, can be achieved through partnership with a Canadian RoboGarden.

He explained that technology is a basic necessity as the world is changing rapidly, saying that it is no longer acceptable to have technology that are  not fully understood by children who are the  future generations.

He added that not only should they know how to use it but they should also know how to create new technology through a combination of existing technologies in innovative ways for everyday solutions.

The Minister noted that though the pandemic has slowed down the progress of its pursuit of imbibing technological excellence in the emerging generation, the government has, nonetheless, deployed robotics to schools with a follow up on compliance.

“The pandemic has slowed us down but it has also helped upscale teachers through zoom,” he said.

In his remarks, Mohammed Elhabiby, president of Canadian Robo Garden and executive vice president of Micro Engineering Group, explained the reason coding for children should be part of every teaching curriculum, or at least an extra class to be prioritised by parents stressing that Coding  is one of the most widely used languages as almost every occupational field relies more on software and software development for success.

The task, according to him, has however, been simplified by RoboGarden whose pre occupation is “looking at the problems and offering solutions,” he said.

He noted that “Current trends are not about learning but acquiring skills. It is not about spending time in the library but about using search engine.”

All this, including high unemployment and economic challenges, he maintained,  are embedded in Robo Garden’s  global vision to solve problems.

He projected that “85 percent of jobs in 2030 is unknown. But with automation, jobs will be created and jobs will be lost. Therefore, preparation, through sufficient knowledge in Artificial Intelligence, AI, Internet of Things and  Big Data,  is key,” he admonished.

Elhabiby further stressed  that the “Skills for 2030 are embedded in digital literacy, computer thinking, creative and innovative mindset, emotional and social intelligence.”

Earlier, in her opening remarks, Ngozi Joyce Ogoke, the chief executive officer of Ovana eLearning, dissected the essence of the summit saying coding boosts problem solving and critical thought.

She submitted that learning coding techniques helps children develop critical thinking skills and problem solving abilities that are not only important in computer science but in life generally.

She asserted that Nigeria is ripe for code learning and promised that Robo Garden platform, which is the learning template for coding, has the potential to extend to all nook and cranny of Nigeria and urged government to speed up its collaboration desires.