TRT project impacted 24,000 pupils

By Afolabi IdowuThe Tech Relevant Teacher (TRT) Project, an education intervention in Nigeria sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation, has come to a successful close. The project, executed by implementing partners, Bunmi Adedayo Foundation (BAF), to ameliorate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on low- and middle-income schools through virtual teaching skills and tools training for school leaders and classroom teachers, concluded recently.Launched earlier this year, the Tech Relevant Teacher Project was developed following concerns around the increased digital divide in education, especially within low-income communities. Multiple sources state that 25 million children in Nigeria were out of school due to the attendant effects of the pandemic, as the economic downturn disrupted the purchasing power of millions of families with fragile income streams. As a result, the project focused on key activities and courses such as the School Leadership and Sustainability Conference (SLSC); 4-week Advanced Content Creation Classes held virtually; 8-Module Course on the BAF Learning Management System, 4-week Mentoring in Math and English Research; Pedagogy; Content Development and Advanced Content Digitization.Through the TRT project, Coca-Cola sought to increase the digital learning competencies of teachers across select public and private schools in Nigeria. The project, which spanned a seven-month period, recorded impressive numbers as over 24,000 children have been provided access to quality virtual education in their schools as a result of the training.Additionally, 648 school leaders and classroom teachers drawn from 216 schools benefited from the intervention, as they attempted their first digital lessons enabled by over 2,000 hands-on interactive learning contents created in adaptive formats.According to Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, Director, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, Coca-Cola Nigeria, the Tech Relevant Teacher Project could not have been initiated at a more opportune time as it significantly impacted the education sector in Nigeria.We could not be more delighted at the outcome of this project, Nwamaka said. We were aware of the effects of the pandemic on access to quality education, especially within low-income communities and we decided to act. With support from our implementing partners, the Bunmi Adedayo Foundation, we are proud to have contributed significantly to closing the gap in education between underserved and privileged communities.Through our partnership, thousands of underserved children now have access to quality education while teachers have been empowered with relevant competencies in virtual teaching tools to facilitate quality education for years to come, she concluded.
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