Parents and guardians have been enjoined to guide and monitor their wards on the effective use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance educational performance.
The Chairman, Board of Commissioners of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Adeolu Akande gave the admonition at the 2020 End of the Year Party of Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association (GCIOBA), Ibadan Branch tagged ‘Let’s Meet In The Ambience of Love and Unity’.
The event was held at the Lalekan Are Hall, Government College, Apata, Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State.
The Keynote Speaker, Prof. Akande, while speaking on Role of ICT on Education described Information, Communication, Technology as a major instrument in the development of education and society. He added that role of ICT in the lives of teachers, students and the society to promote peace and harmony cannot be over emphasized.
He disclosed that ICT in the school setting, is purposely to give out instructions to students, for interaction between students and teachers and interfacing with the public to achieve the developmental goals in education.
Professor Akande reiterated further that ICT helps teachers to discover new developments relating to their teaching and counseling careers and as well, exposing and assisting the students to enhance their capacity to excel in their academics.
He said that ICT through the internet facility exposes students to various culture, which is assisting them to learn how to tolerate other people’s in the society by promoting unity and maintaining peaceful coexistence.
The former Chairman, Board of National Information, Technology, Development Agency (NITDA), however, called on parents to provide guidance for their children while using ICT to obtain information that will enhance their education, explaining that it is easy for the children to be distracted particularly through the social media aspect.
“The important thing is that just like we talk about sexual education to our children, social media also poses a lot of problems to young people and the parents should not leave it to the school, they must also be interested in how their wards use the social media.
“The solution is not to ban them from using the social media, because if you ban them, they will use it behind you. So, the most important thing is to guide and monitor them on how to use it,” Prof. Akande said.
The Chairman, Ibadan Branch of Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association, Engineer Oluwole Agbaje, commended the members of the branch for their support to ensure many of the agenda of the present executives come into reality despite the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that part of the agenda is the formation of co-operative and investment plan, health insurance policy, quarterly medical check-ups/seminar and mini get-together for members in the month of December.
The ceremony, which was the maiden edition witnessed the presentation of Merit Award to some members of the association and corporate organizations in Ibadan.
The recipients of this year’s GCIOBA’s Merit Award are Engineer. Olufemi Babalola (Jogor), Engr. Emmanuel Ajibola Obakin, Lead City University and Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA).
Packaged by Kunle Gazali
