Ibadan: The Oyo State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has rolled out the Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP) to enable better access to quality education. The NLP is an online e-learning platform with mobile and offline capabilities designed to ensure continuous educational access.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the Nigeria Learning Passport functions as an education model covering early childhood education, primary and secondary education, adolescent skills, as well as technical and vocational education. A notable feature of the platform is that every user has a personalized record of their learning history, distinct to each individual. Currently, over 2.4 million children and teachers across Nigeria are utilizing the platform, with Oyo State becoming the 26th state to adopt this digital initiative.
Governor Seyi Makinde, represented by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Segun Olayiwola, described the launch as significant for transforming education to align with the demands of the 21st century. He emphasized the rapidly changing landscape of technology and its impact on work, communication, and knowledge acquisition, asserting that education must not lag in this transformation. The state government, committed to human capital development, is adopting the NLP to bolster digital learning and widen access to quality educational resources.
Governor Makinde underscored that learning should extend beyond the classroom, promoting a culture where students can continue their education at home and in their communities. He articulated a vision for an inclusive, innovative, and technology-enabled education system, where every child and teacher has the opportunity to learn and improve, and every school is connected to resources for effective learning. He also noted that the platform’s success will depend on the effective adoption and use by schools, teachers, and learners.
The UNICEF Chief of Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, highlighted the importance of prioritizing children in rural and underserved communities to ensure the NLP has a lasting impact. She pointed out that schools in areas with limited electricity or network coverage often lag in benefiting from technological advancements. Lafoucriere called for prioritizing these communities, especially girls facing substantial barriers, to be early beneficiaries of the platform. She commended Governor Makinde for his dedication to quality education, noting that the launch marks progress in fulfilling the administration’s educational commitments, particularly with the recent deployment of 5,000 new teachers.
Lafoucriere explained that the NLP was developed in response to the learning disruptions caused by COVID-19, which saw over 1.6 billion children worldwide affected by school closures. The platform provides thousands of curriculum-aligned lessons in subjects such as Mathematics, English, and Science, accessible both online and offline, with Airtel covering data costs for free family access. She stressed the importance of ongoing teacher training to effectively integrate the platform into classroom teaching and highlighted the need for the government to track platform usage and learning outcomes beyond registration numbers to assess its impact on education.
The NLP is the product of collaboration between UNICEF, the Federal Government, Microsoft, which developed the technology, and financial support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), with contributions from IHS Towers, TECNO, and Airtel.