By John Ikani
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has commissioned and handed over a newly completed Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centre to Community Secondary School, Angalabiri, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The Centre, which is fully air-conditioned and with a fortified roof, reinforced metal windows and door, is equipped with 31 personal computers as well as all necessary accessories, a server room, purpose-built desks and chairs, a giant interactive smart screen, a staff Common Room, and a Mikano power generating set.
In an address at the handover ceremony on Friday, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, represented by the General Manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, Mrs. Angela Okoro, said the Centre is one of many that the Board has completed and donated to secondary schools across the country.
The Board, he explained, seeks to make Internet access readily available to students wherever their location might be and thus enhance learning and their performance in external as well as computer-based examinations. With the Centre in a functional state, students would no longer experience difficulties as to where to register for or take computer-based exams.
He urged the school authorities to ensure that the facilities provided are properly utilised and also protected from theft and vandalisation. Personnel of the NCDMB, he assured, would be visiting the Centre from time to time to assess how the facilities are being utilised and maintained.
He advised the authorities to make the Centre accessible to members of the community who wish to use Internet facilities and are willing to pay appropriate fees. In that way, funds could be generated for maintenance and other related needs of the Centre.
Also speaking, NCDMB’s Project Manager, Mr. Joseph Adebayo, told the students that the Centre and facilities provided have elevated their school to a level comparable to any other elsewhere in the country. They are therefore not at any disadvantage on account of their geographical location. He urged them to make the best use of the Centre.
In a welcome address, the Management of the school expressed profound appreciation to NCDMB for considering their institution deserving of such a Centre. It promised to make the facilities serve the purpose for which they were provided and to strive to ensure their safety.
The Management, however, highlighted some challenges, including a lack of computer-literate staff who would be able to teach the students. It implored the Board to organise a training for the teachers. In addition, the Management noted that the Centre would need to be fenced to ensure that unauthorised persons or criminals would not be able to gain entry there.
C.S.S, Angalabiri, is the latest in a series of schools that have benefitted from NCDMB’s programme for the promotion of digital education in secondary schools in the country.
Last August, three secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State, namely, Girls High School, Ikot Ibiok in Eket Local Government Area; Northern Annang Secondary Commercial School, Utu-Etim-Ekpo, in Etim Ekpo LGA, and Government Technical College, Ikot Uko Ika, in Ika LGA, had such ICT Centres commissioned and handed to them by NCDMB.
