INTEGRATING ICT INTO CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND CURRICULUM

DELIVERY AT ALL LEVELS OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN NIGERIA

Peter A. Okebukola, OFR

Presented at the 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education held at the National Universities
Commission, Abuja, November 19-20, 2013

Introduction
The ICT enterprise is one of the most rapidly changing of all knowledge domains. It is a major driver
of the socio-economic growth of nations and one of the tools that will define the future of humanity.
In the spate of a few decades, developments in ICT have recorded significant landmark contributions
to the global village phenomenon. It is on these counts that increasing attention is paid to how the
enterprise is developing and the role of the school system in fostering this development.

In developing the ICT curriculum for secondary schools and universities in Nigeria in the 1990s, little
was known of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and massive open online courses (MOOCs). The
internet was used by a few. By 2003, we did not know about Facebook and Twitter and knew only
little about cloud computing hence these did not feature in the curriculum. Today, the pace of
development of ICT is dizzying, that in two years, newer concepts would have added to the body of
knowledge, rendering a 2013 revised curriculum largely outdated even before ink would have dried
on the document.

Curriculum theorists as summarised by Schiro (2007), have offered the escape route for such fast-
paced knowledge domain. The route is to ensure that the curriculum content is made up of
fundamental ideas in the discipline as the skeleton or secondary theme while skills of discovery and
learning how to learn is made primary. The central goal of this paper, therefore, is to advocate the
development of ICT curriculum for Nigerian schools with content which reflect emerging and
anticipated future developments in the ICT enterprise. Staring us even now in the ICT horizon, are
future directions which if not factored into the curriculum development exercise, will render
ineffectual, the efforts of NERDC, NBTE, NCCE and NUC in developing curricula for various levels of
the Nigerian education system.

Since the Federal Ministry of Education introduced computer studies into the junior secondary
curriculum in the early 1990s, there has been a flurry of activities leading to further development of
the curriculum. Over the years, the curriculum has been scaled to lower and higher levels of the
education system. Other steps taken is the provision of computer equipment and preparation of
teachers to deliver the curriculum through pre-service and in-service programmes. Reflecting on the
20-year history of computer studies in Nigerian schools, progress made is far from impressive and
early aspirations of having functioning computer laboratories in most schools as well as availability
of trained and resourceful computer studies teachers were not met. In spite of the unfulfilled
dreams, hopes are high for a better future hence the need to focus on updating the curriculum at all
levels of the education system in order to bring Nigerian learners up-to-date in an ICT-dominated
world. This is the primary purpose of this paper. The paper has two other purposes. It will review the
raison d'être for the tardiness in delivering quality Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) education and offer suggestions for remedying deficiencies.

FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 1 Peter A. Okebukola

What is ICT about?
The conglomerate of technologies wrapped under the umbrella of information and communication
technologies includes a wide array of gadgets, processes and products. members of this
conglomerate include computers of different shades an forms (desktops, laptops, netbooks, PDAs,
iPods, iPads and tablets), the internet, cell phones, learning and content management systems,
video, audio conferencing and a host of others. Most of us attending this conference have smart
phones whose absence in our pockets or loss, will set us back in our schedules, communication with
friends and family and catching up on office and classroom tasks. The ease of following the gist of
this presentation being aided by PowerPoint, a Microsoft Office application can be adduced to ICT.
Interactions of our students on social media, extensive use of the internet for emailing, electronic
library resource and voip communications, are but a few of the numerous uses to which Nigerian
students and teachers find use for ICT. In addition, FM radio and TV stations in most States offer
education programmes that students benefit from. These are notable examples of what ICT is about.
We should come to the realisation that growth of ICT is fast paced and the curriculum should be
dynamic enough to cope with the rapid changes. The next section of this paper will review the
current state of curriculum development related to ICT while the fourth section will examine the
current ICT needs of Nigerian pupils and students at all levels of the education system to which
curriculum reform and delivery should respond. The fifth section takes a peep at the future of ICT
and what the curriculum at all levels should look like in the next ten years. The concluding section
proposes solutions to challenges that will emerge in the course of implementing this ICT curriculum
of the future.

Current state of ICT curriculum

The ICT curriculum in Nigerian schools is organised at three levels- basic, post-basic and higher
education. The basic education curriculum has a sprinkle of ICT concepts. This is adjudged by the
developers to be enough to whet the appetite of the young learners. In Basic 7 to 9, richer contents
are provided almost of the same topics as the core curriculum for junior secondary computer studies
of the early 1990s. Such topics as history of the computer, components, structure and functions of
computer systems and use of the Internet are considered evergreen for inclusion. At the senior
secondary level, a little bit of programming, structure and functions of hardware devices, rudiments
of computer maintenance are key concepts in the curriculum. At the university level, a core course
on computer literacy is compulsory for all undergraduates. This course, offered as standalone or as
part of one or two general studies course(s) is essentially computer appreciation.

The intended ICT curriculum at all levels of the education system is rather impressive. Far from
impressive is the implemented curriculum. At all levels, topics are taught in the abstract with little or
no hands-on activities by teachers who have rudimentary knowledge about computing. At best in
many of the lower-level schools, the teachers are only skilled in word-processing. In the universities,
the situation is just slightly better since the students are able to source computers on their own not
depending on the sparse computer labs provided by the school. Also, the teachers are more
knowledgeable and better skilled than their secondary-level counterparts. The challenge of power
supply and inability to upgrade to new models of ICT devices looms large in the system. Let us take a
closer look at the situation at each level of the education system.

FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 2 Peter A. Okebukola

Basic Education Level

For children aged between 6 and 12 years, computer studies/ICT is a compulsory subject they have
to offer as part of basic education (see Table 1).

Table 1: Compulsory and elective subjects at the basic education level

Level Compulsory Electives Selected Computer
Studies/ICT Content
Lower Basic English Studies Agricultural History of computers
Education One Major Nigeria Home Economics Hardware devices
Curriculum Language Arabic Language Recognition of
(Primary 1- 3) (Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba) basic computer
Mathematics components:
Basic Science & keyboard; mouse;
Technology monitor; speaker;
Social Studies flash drives,
Civic Education CD-ROM and drive;
Cultural & Creative Arts printer
(CCA)
Christian Religion
Studies/Islamic Studies
Physical & Health
Education
(PHE)
Computer Studies/ICT
Middle Basic Education English Studies Agricultural Input devices (mouse,
Curriculum One Major Home Economics keyboard, scanner,
(Primary 4-6) (Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba) Arabic Language CD/DVD-ROM,)
Mathematics Output devices (monitor,
Basic CD/DVD-ROM writer,
Science & Printer)
Technolo Types of memory
gy
Social Studies ROM (Read Only Memory)
Civic Education
Cultural & Creative Arts RAM (Random Access
(CCA) Memory)
Christian Religious
Studies/Islamic Studies
Physical & Health
Education (PHE)
French Language
Computer Studies/ICT
Upper Basic Education Curriculum English Studies Agriculture Software- system and
(JSS 1-3) One Major Nigeria Home Economics applications
Language Arabic Languages Software license, Copyright, Plagia
(Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba) Business Studies
Open source software
Mathematics
Basic Science and free software.
Social Studies Troubleshooting concepts
Civic Education
Cultural & Creative Arts Hardware and software
(CCA)
compatibility problems
Christian Religion
Studies/Islamic Studies Windows troubleshooting
Physical & Health Using Microsoft Word,
Education PowerPoint and Excel
(PHE) Logic Gates
French Language Programming
Basic Technology
Computer Studies/ICT
FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 3 Peter A. Okebukola
The contents of the computer studies/ICT curriculum as developed by the Nigerian Educational
Research and Development Council (NERDC) is rich. In a discussion with the Executive Secretary of
the Council, Professor Godswill Obioma, at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris last week (November
14), it was the consensus that all subjects offered at the basic and post-basic levels of the education
system in Nigeria are comparable in content with similar programmes in many developed countries.
In computer studies, there are a few outdated contents which current review efforts are targeting.
Overall, we measure up in the planned curriculum, but fall far short in the implemented curriculum
owing to a number of constraints notably inadequacies in facilities and in teacher quality and
quantity.

Post-Basic

At the post-basic level up to senior secondary, the Federal Ministry of Education introduced a new
curriculum for senior secondary schools starting from the 2011/2012 session. The new curriculum
is broadly divided into three categories - compulsory cross-cutting core subjects, field of
specialisation and electives. There are four fields of specialisations - humanities,
science/mathematics, business studies and technology. Subjects under each of the fields are shown
in Table 2.

Table 2: Fields of specialisations and core subjects at the senior secondary level

Core Subjects Humanities Science/Math Business Studies Technology

1. English 1. Nigerian Lang 1. Biology 1. Account 1. T-D
2. Math 2. Lit-In-English 2. Chemistry 2. Store Mgt 2. Metal Work
3. Trade 3. Geography 3. Physics 3. Office Practice 3. Basic Electricity
4. Computer 4. Government 4. Further Math 4. Insurance 4. Electronics
Studies 5. CRS 5. Agriculture 5. Commerce 5. Auto Mechanics
5. Civic 6. IRS 6. Physical 6. Building Construction
Education 7. History Education 7. Wood Work
8. Visual Art 7. Health 8. Home Mgt
9. Music Education 9. Foods & Nut
10. French 10. Clothing & Textiles
11. Arabic
12. Economics

It is gladdening to note that computer studies is a core subject in the senior secondary curriculum.
Although the new curriculum takes effect from September 2011 the old senior secondary
curriculum is to be phased out systematically over a period of three years i.e. September 2011 to
June 2014. All students are to offer all five core compulsory subjects. They are to choose three or
four subjects from a field of specialisation i.e. humanities, science/mathematics, business studies or
technology, choose an elective outside their field of specialisation provided that the total number
of examinable subjects is not more than nine. In summary, students are expected to offer five core
subjects, three to four subjects from their field of specialisation and one elective.

The topics in the curriculum are rich, perhaps, overloaded. Opportunity for practical work is scant
making it a largely theory-only class setting in most schools.

Higher Education

The minimum academic standards set by NUC, NBTE and NCCE prescribe computer literacy for all
undergraduates, and those on ND, HND and NCE programmes. As it is the case for the basic
education level, much of the content is taught in a theoretical manner, the huge size of class not
FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 4 Peter A. Okebukola
helping matters. The common content in such computer literacy course includes the following
topics:

 Computer history and architecture

 Parts and functions of a computer
 Basic Word processing and presentation skills
 Basic Internet Skills
 Basic E-Mail Skills
 Internet security

A world away from integration

There are three scenarios with respect to integration of ICT in education. These are learning about
ICT- teachers and students develop skills and knowledge in the potential uses of ICT to support
learning; learning with ICT- teachers and students use ICT resources to deliver the curriculum and
learning through ICT- teachers and students use ICT to transform the process of teaching and
learning, learning in new ways.

The curriculum at all levels of the education system in Nigeria fail to achieve these three levels of ICT
integration. The expectation is to have ICT embedded into Mathematics, Basic Science and Technology, Social
Studies, Civic Education, Cultural & Creative Arts and other subjects at the basic and post-basic levels.
Integration means drawing from ICT processes and products to deliver the curriculum in these subjects. Even
the token use of projectors to present PowerPoint slides in teaching social studies and use of virtual
laboratories for practicals in basic science and technology are exceedingly rare. ICT for school administration
at the basic education level for record keeping, class attendance, student assessment and time-tabling are
equally rare. At the higher education level, the story is more encouraging although the gap between expected
and observed is huge.

The subjects listed for basic education in Tables 1 and 2 outside computer studies/ICT and the courses offered
in higher education institutions outside computer science-related courses are standalone in terms of being
coloured with ICT. The expectation is that all the subjects in the school curriculum at all levels will be delivered
in partnership with some ICT elements. This is the essence of integration which has been known to foster
achievement in these subjects.

Within the framework of integration, ICT tools afford opportunities for learners to develop higher-
order thinking skills, including problem-solving, investigating, evaluating, analysing, critical and
creative thinking, and communication. Higher-order skills can be developed by learners as shown in
the following examples:

 In English, searching for information on difficult words and explanations on grammar or

parts of speech using the Internet by entering search terms in a search engine, and refining
these search terms to retrieve the information required.
 In biology, describing and recording information on animals and plants along pre-defined
fields using database software, and developing complex queries to retrieve information
from the database using a range of criteria.
 in mathematics and geography, using ICT tools such as spreadsheet software, and
interpreting results using multiple representation formats (e.g., pie charts, bar graphs,
scatterplots).
 In mathematics and physics, developing visual representations of line, angle and shape by
using programming software to predict and control a screen image.

FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 5 Peter A. Okebukola

The following examples describe ways in which ICT can be used to develop learners'
communication skills.

 Basic science and technology and biology -documenting, editing, and presenting a field trip
using a digital camera, or video camera, and multimedia and/or presentation software.
 English: recording and editing samples of speech using multimedia software to publish
sound files for language learning.
 All subjects- articulating and exchanging ideas by sending and receiving e-mail, or
participating in a threaded discussion and listserv communication.

Regardless of the subject, ICT has predisposition to a host of uses. It should enable the learner use a
range of tools in the attainment of curriculum learning objectives; develop understanding and
practice of the safe use of ICT; and support the development of the learner's social skills through
cooperative learning and problem-solving. ICT can also be an invaluable assistive resource for
learning and teaching. The term assistive technology refers to the range of technological devices
or systems designed to improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities and
maximise their quality of life. Physically-challenged students may need assistive technology to
support their communication, interaction, mobility, and general participation within the
classroom. For example, a non-verbal child may use a portable device to generate electronic
speech, or a child with visual impairment may find magnifying software or screen reader software
beneficial in augmenting their learning experience.

Situation analysis
As reported during the FME 2012 ICT National Conference, three key elements interplay in a setting
where ICT is used in education (Okebukola, 2012). Tools such as computers (desktops, laptops and
netbooks), mobile phones and associated devices make up one of these elements. Human resources
such as teachers, laboratory and workshop assistants, technicians and technologists make up the
other while the third is the infrastructure. Installations permitting connectivity and power supply are
the major constituents of infrastructure. The findings of a 2010 national survey by Okebukola
Science Foundation on the status of ICT use in the Nigerian educational system provide much of the
data. The study which was a subset of a larger investigation, surveyed two randomly selected states
from each of the six geopolitical zones.

The study found that less than one percent of public primary (basic) schools surveyed have ICT
gadgetry notably computers and associated devices. The private schools fared better with over 60%
having such computer equipment. In less than 20% of public and private schools are the computers
in working condition and in active use. At the secondary level, a more impressive picture emerges.
About 15% of public secondary schools have PCs in excess of 10 units per school. The corresponding
figure for private secondary schools is 75.4%. In both public and private secondary schools, less than
1% have PC to pupil ratio of 1:30. Even when PCs are available, an insignificant few (less than 0.1%)
use the equipment for teaching, learning and school management. The study further found that
power supply is a major challenge to ICT use as about 0.2% of the private schools have regular
power supply. Internet connectivity is unavailable to all on a regular basis.

An insignificant percentage of teachers in public primary and secondary schools were found to have
training in the use of ICT to deliver instruction. While computer literacy is a feature of the curriculum
of NCE teacher training programmes, the limitation of resources in colleges of education relative to
the number of trainees hinder the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the use of ICT for teaching
by the trainees. Teacher capacity deficit is a prevalent condition which stands as barrier to successful
implementation of ICT policies in education.
FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 6 Peter A. Okebukola
Technical support and maintenance are often left in the hands of casual amateurs since the promise
of after-sales service is hardly met by ICT vendors. When anything goes wrong with connectivity,
hardware or software, the teacher, headteacher or principal more often than not recourse to the
casual amateur from the “computer village” for remediation.

Current Needs of students to be served by the ICT curriculum

What are the current needs of Nigerian students that require ICT knowledge and skills to which the
school curriculum should respond? We can partition the needs to information-related and those
relating to communication. On information-related needs, our students are living in a world where
they are bombarded daily with information on various subjects ranging from those in the subjects
they are studying at school to current affairs. Such volume of information doubling every few years,
requires students to be equipped with tools and skills for isolating, aggregating and processing
information. Nigerian students therefore need to be prepared by the ICT curriculum for information
seeking, rapid processing and application to school work and daily living. Apart from subject-specific
information, students need the ICT curriculum to provide opportunity for learning about the latest
developments in computer technology and the use of apps to address their daily needs. Our
students also need to contribute to the growing volume of globally-available information, not just
consumers of such information.

We should also stress in the ICT curriculum the need for students to benefit from practical and
hands-on experience. Many schools have laboratories that are inadequately equipped providing the
teacher a ready excuse not to conduct practicals in the sciences. However, this obstacle can be
scaled, at least in part, through the use of virtual laboratories. Virtual labs provide an avenue for
students to carry out simulated experiments which give them the feel of the real thing. Such labs
also generate authentic experimental data on which students and their teachers can test
hypotheses.

On students' needs relating to communication, we are quick to mention phone, text and email
messaging and the new additions of Facebook and Twitter. Social networking for academic purposes
is emerging as a gainful direction in curriculum implementation. Although social network sites are
used mainly for social rather than academic interactions, they are fast gaining acceptance as media
for delivering some academic content to students. The content of the ICT curriculum should
therefore be laden with topics that will meet the communication needs of students.

Future Needs of students to be served by the ICT curriculum

What must we be doing today to ensure that our students are equipped with the skills and
knowledge required to function in the world of tomorrow? We are coming to the increasing
realisation that students of today are no longer the people our educational system was designed to
teach. The rapidity with which changes in the development of ICT influences the needs of students
suggests that we should anticipate such needs and factor them into current efforts at developing the
ICT curriculum to serve all levels of the education system. For students starting a four-year degree in
a Nigerian university, half of what they learned in their first year of study will be obsolete by the
third year.

FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 7 Peter A. Okebukola

Computer studies/ICT Curriculum of the future
The Computer Studies/ICT curriculum for Nigerian schools of the future should have four
characteristics. It should be skills-based, flexible to accommodate emerging technologies in the ICT
world, relevant to Nigeria's socio-cultural context and low cost. The content should be 45% practical.
Computer studies/ICT is a practical subject, where invention and resourcefulness are encouraged.
Students are expected to apply the academic principles they have learned to the understanding of
real-world systems through practicals rather than through notes dictated by the teacher as we
typically find in Nigerian schools. We want our students to understand and play an active role in the
digital world that surrounds them, not to be passive consumers of an opaque and mysterious
technology. This will be achieved through a sound understanding of computing concepts bundled
with a high dose of practical skills.

The objectives of the ICT curriculum of the future should be to ensure that all learners in the
Nigerian school system (a) have basic digital literacy that will enable them live successfully in an ICT-
dominated environment; (b) are able to use a variety of software on a range of digital devices to
accomplish given goals; (c) are creative users of information technology; (d) can use computer
networks including the Internet and the opportunities they offer for communication and
collaboration; (e) participate in online communities, and (f) are able to articulate the individual,
cultural, and societal impacts of digital technology.

About 60% of the content of the curriculum of the future should provide ample opportunity for
learners from basic through higher education for hands-on experience on using all manner of
ICT devices especially those with latest and emerging technologies and opportunity to be
creative in designing their own tools and apps to solve problems. The curriculum should be
flexible enough to permit rapid adjustment to content based on emerging technologies at every
point in time and not stereotyped and straitjacketed into topics that go into obsolescence in a
few months. The remaining 40% of the content should have topics that are basic for the
understanding of the subject e.g. structure and functions of the computer and its components,
operating systems, use of selected application software especially for word processing,
database management, spreadsheet and for presentation, the internet, and programming.
Every learner from Basic 9 and above, should have repeated opportunities to design, write,
run, and debug, programs such as small domain-specific languages- instructions to a simple
robot; visual languages such as Scratch BYOB or Kodu; and text-based languages Java, Pascal,
PHP, Python, Visual Basic.

Besides the computer studies/ICT curriculum, all subjects should have their contents sprinkled
with ICT topics. The delivery system including classroom instruction, use of electronic library
resources, class management and practicals should benefit from ICT use. This is the true
essence of integration. All curriculum development bodies in Nigeria notably NERDC, NUC,
NBTE and NCCE should take steps in achieving such integration in their next rounds of
curriculum review.

FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 8 Peter A. Okebukola

 Table 3: Proposed Content for ICT Curriculum for the Nigerian education system

Core topics

secondary

Education

Education
Basic 1-3

Basic 4-6

Basic 7-9

Teacher
Higher
Senior
ICT topics
Practicum (60% of allotted time to ICT on school time-table) √ √ √ √ √ √
Exploration of emerging and future technologies √ √ √
Programming and software development √ √ √ √ √
Structure, use and misuse of the internet √ √ √ √ √
Operating systems √ √ √ √ √
Application software- using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint √ √ √ √ √
History of computers √ √
Structure and functions of computer systems √ √ √ √ √ √
Maintenance of ICT devices √ √ √ √
Use of e-library √ √ √ √ √
Website design √ √ √ √ √
Developing apps for mobile devices √ √ √ √
Basic computer engineering- microprocessors √ √
Intelligent systems √ √
Basic robotics √ √ √ √
Modelling and simulation √ √ √
Computer networks/communication √ √
Curriculum Delivery topics
Cloud computing √ √
E-learning √

Challenges to implementing the curriculum

The following are some of the major obstacles which stand in the way of successful
implementation of a forward-looking ICT curriculum for Nigerian schools (see Okebukola, 2012
for details):

 Teacher inadequacies: There is a severe shortage of qualified ICT teachers especially for the
basic and post-basic levels of the education system. More than half of the teachers have no
clue about online delivery of education and e-learning. Owing to low content knowledge,
teachers are unable to provide learners with accurate and update concepts in ICT.
 Inadequacies of facilities: Over 90% of public basic and post-basic schools are grossly
deficient in facilities for hands-on training of students in ICT.
 Infrastructural inadequacies: Frequent interruptions to public power supply (or no service
at all), high cost of bandwidth leading to lack of internet access continue to impede the
delivery of quality ICT education.

The Road ahead: Recommendations

A number of recommendations arise from the foregoing. These are presented as follows:

Recommendation No.1 on the development of a forward -looking ICT curriculum for

Nigerian schools

The Federal Ministry of Education should request NERDC, NCCE, NBTE and NUC to undertake
a comprehensive review of the ICT curricula of the different levels of the education system

FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 9 Peter A. Okebukola

 with a view to making the curricula responsive to emerging and future information and
communication technologies. The curricula should also be expansive in providing practical
experiences for the learners, and able to produce Nigerians who will not be mere consumers
but will contribute to the new technological processes and products. Such curriculum
development efforts should be broad scoped to incorporate integration of ICT into all school
subjects.

Recommendation No.2 on the provision of facilities and enabling environment for

delivering the forward -looking curricula

Government at the state and federal levels in partnership with the private sector should take
steps to amply resource all schools with facilities that will ensure effective delivery of the
proposed forward-looking curriculum.

The policy of the Federal Ministry of Education on ICT in Education should endorse strategies
for making public-private partnerships work in the provision of ICT facilities in schools. Such
partnerships require clear thinking-through and not ad-hoc arrangements between
individual institutions and a private enterprise. A system-wide agreement on standards and
maintenance of equipment will bring down cost and foster sustainability.

Recommendation No. 3 on the preparation of ICT teachers

NUC, NBTE and NCCE should remodel the computer courses currently offered to teacher
trainees to be relatively thin on traditional ICT concepts, flexible enough to accommodate
emerging concepts and slanted to assure development of practical skills in the use of ICT to
deliver quality basic, secondary and higher education.

Recommendation No. 4 on in-service training for ICT teachers

The Federal Ministry of education should strengthen NUC to mount special online training
modules via the UNESCO-NUC Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF) for all
teachers who are involved in teaching ICT courses for delivering education. These modules
are (a) Current Contents in ICT; and (b) Practical Methodologies in using ICT in Education.

NCCE, NBTE and NUC should encourage institutions they superintend to sponsor ICT teacher
trainers to courses to regularly update their knowledge and skills. Funds from TETFund can
be deployed for this purpose.

Recommendation No. 5 on strengthening the delivery of ICT curriculum by specialist

teachers

Universities, polytechnics and colleges of education should engage associate lecturers with
current IT certification relating to topics in the curriculum to support regular teachers.

Recommendation No. 6 on quality assurance

NUC, NBTE and NCCE should strengthen quality assurance activities in a way that will foster
the training of quality teachers who will be able to use ICT effectively in schools. This calls for
a re-definition of relevant minimum standards and the enforcement of such standards.

FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 10 Peter A. Okebukola

Conclusion
In this paper, we noted that the ICT enterprise is one of the most rapidly changing of all knowledge
and a major driver of the socio-economic growth of nations and one of the tools that will define the
future of humanity. We reflected on the 20-year history of computer studies in Nigerian schools, and
lamented that progress made is far from impressive and early aspirations of having functioning
computer laboratories in most schools as well as availability of trained and resourceful computer
studies teachers were not met. In spite of the unfulfilled dreams, we envision high hopes for a better
future.

It was proposed that about 60% of the content of the curriculum of the future should provide ample
opportunity for learners from basic through higher education for hands-on experience on using all
manner of ICT devices especially those with latest and emerging technologies and opportunity to be
creative in designing their own tools and apps to solve problems. We further proposed that the
curriculum should be flexible enough to permit rapid adjustment to content based on emerging
technologies at every point in time and not stereotyped and straitjacketed into topics that go into
obsolescence in a few months. The remaining 40% of the content should have topics that are basic
for the understanding of the subject. We ended up with six recommendations all aimed at
positioning Nigerian students to take full advantage of the huge benefits of ICT for national and
global development.

References
Forfas (2013). Addressing future demands of high-level ICT skills. Dublin: Forfas.
Okebukola Science Foundation (2010). Survey of science and technology education delivery in Nigeria. Lagos: OSF Press.
Okebukola, P.A.O. (1997). Old, new, and current technology in education. UNESCO Africa 14 (15): 7-18.
Okebukola, P.A.O. (2012). Creating a sustainable pedagogical and technical expertise in ICT in education. Presented at the
Conference organised by the Federal Ministry of Education on “Formulating a Viable National Policy Framework for
ICT in Education”, Abuja, May 21-22, 2012.
Schiro, M. (2007) Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

FME 2013 National Conference on ICT in Education P a g e | 11 Peter A. Okebukola