Title: Digitising education in Nigeria: lessons from COVID-19

Authors: Blessing Ufuoma Olanrewaju; Joshua Adeyemi Afolabi

Addresses: Economics and Business Policy Department, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ojoo, Ibadan, Nigeria ' Innovation and Technology Policy Department, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ojoo, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract: The sudden outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) dealt a great blow on the global educational sector, given the ill-preparedness of most countries to leverage digitisation. This study x-rayed the performance of the Nigerian educational sector and its response to COVID-19 pandemic with a view to underscoring the imperativeness of digitising education to forestall future shocks. The findings revealed the unimpressive performance of the Nigerian educational sector as learning came to a screeching halt during the pandemic, given the pervasive infrastructural deficits in the sector. Further result showed that Nigerian graduates are likely to face non-employability unless strategic steps are taken to expose them to digitisation, which the modern world of work requires. It, therefore, becomes pertinent to increase the budgetary allocation to the sector to bridge its infrastructural gaps. This would help Nigeria catch-up with global best practices in education and set the pace for improved educational service delivery in Africa.

Keywords: digitisation; educational sector; COVID-19; global competitiveness; Nigeria.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTEL.2022.125857

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2022 Vol.14 No.4, pp.402 - 419

Received: 28 Jul 2021
Accepted: 19 Sep 2021
Published online: 30 Sep 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article