Academy wants Artificial intelligence in school curriculum

A learning solution-providing organisation, Afrelib Academy has urged the federal government to include Artificial Intelligence (AI), one of the global emerging technologies, in school curriculum across the country.

The head of operations/programme, Joyce Gomina, said such efforts would save teachers’ time and at the same time make learning fun.

Addressing newsmen at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday Gomina said some of the academy’s initiatives are aimed at promoting literary and technology appreciation for improved education outcomes in West Africa, starting from Nigeria.

Gomina said every child has a unique voice and the academy listen to it as a team of expert educators committed to supporting learners, parents, teachers, and schools to achieve the best educational outcomes.

She said, “We curate innovative EdTech platforms and successful teaching practices from around the world in order to deliver better educational outcomes at scale.

“In our engagement with schools in the FCT region in Nigeria, we came across an independent school not without a broken classroom window or two, and teachers without smart devices to access teaching resources on apps or platforms.

“A school where the head teacher buys equipment out of pocket when the parents can’t afford it. And yet, these were some of the most passionate and enthusiastic educators we have come across.”

She, however, said schools operating in these environments do what can be done with what they have, which is typically not a lot.

“Resources for teaching and teachers are not in plentiful supply. Tools to monitor and track children’s progress are paper-based with limited quality. The attainment of the requisite skills for future relevance in the employment market already has a challenging start.

“As the lockdown ended in October of 2021, and with covid disparities creating even wider chasms in the children’s learning gap, Afrelib Academy partnered with PAGS Profile, an AI-enabled online assessment, and progress monitoring tool.

“It is used by the Afrelib Academy team working with schools to gain unique insights into how children learn, identifying learning and skill gaps, and providing teachers with strategies and resources to close identified learning gaps. Children with additional learning needs are especially underserved and often forgotten, and sometimes, even condemned to fail,” she said.

She said instead of a teacher using two hours to research and find all the different tools he or she needs to teach a particular topic, with technology and the use of Artificial Intelligence, the teacher can have all responses or the research done in a very short time.

“For example, a teacher that uses ChatGPT can create a lesson plan in less than 10 minutes. Once the lesson plan has been created, it can be customized in another 10 minutes or even less. So, if the government allows technology and the use of artificial intelligence it will save teachers time while making teaching and learning fun.

“Our way in Afrelib Academy is to do the hard work of monitoring the trajectory of where the future is going and then ensure we provide the teaching and learning skills required for educators and learners to be ready for that future. The fundamental difference is that, at Afrelib Academy, we would not compromise the future of our children by being afraid to confront what is needed to squarely face that future today,” she added.