Sweden reaffirms commitment to partner Nigeria on Education Technology

Maryam Abeeb

Sweden has reaffirmed its commitment to deepen bilateral relations with Nigeria on innovative education technology to promote effective teaching and learning.
Gràns Carl-Michael, Sweden Ambassador to Nigeria, made this known in an interview with newmen, on sidelines of the inauguration of ‘SchoolTry’, in Abuja.
SchoolTry is a Swedish Education Technology company in Nigeria.
According to him, Sweden is seeking opportunities that will increase the trade relations and volumes between it and Nigeria, hence the establishment of the SchoolTry educational platform.
“Sweden works with different projects regarding digitisation that is a huge challenge for many countries, including Sweden and of course Nigeria because of its populations.
“What I learnt about SchoolTry founded by a Nigerian in Sweden working with education and e-learning is that it will be interesting for Nigeria.
“Education is a national responsibility for Nigeria as it is for Sweden. I think e-learning is for the future and it is developing very fast.
“So, we can just guess what comes in five or 10 years, when it comes to digital learning, I think this is an area we can cooperate and proffer solutions to educational challenges as well.
“It is obvious that Nigeria has challenges when it comes to the big population and granting education to the entire population, which is the heart of the populace,” he said.
Carl-Michael said that the digitisation of the education sector of the country was key in creating a platform for solutions to the challenges often faced.
He said for Nigeria’s economy to grow in line with its population size, there was the need to engage people on digitization as blueprint to achieve meaningful growth.
Mr Hassan Imam, the Executive Director of Fidelity Bank Plc, North Directorate said that the financial institution would partner with SchoolTry to promote growth in the education sector.
According to him, partnership with SchoolTry will boost quality education in Nigeria, which is what has been brought to the table.
“Digital education solution is what is needed to enhance quality of education and we at Fidelity Bank are partnering with them.
“We have provided the payment solution using paygate and equally supporting some of our partners, so they are up and running.
“I want to introduce the solution to both private and public schools in Nigeria because it has captured everything needed on e-learning, covered from curriculum to teachers’ engagement and all other aspects.
“It is something that will enhance quality of education in this country,” Imam said.
He described education as one of the focal points of the bank, saying “it is something that has been happening before now and therefore will key into SchoolTry for benefit of Nigerians.’’
Meanwhile, Mr Ismail Eleburuike, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SchoolTry said that the initiative started in 2018.
According to him, the innovation began two years ago and the organisation has considered different sectors as a means to bring about national development.
“This is why we try to use technology to be able to transform the education sector in Africa and starting with Nigeria.
“We looked inward and have seen that a large percentage of students who are not in school can adopt this initiative because they sure are more than those of elite schools.
“This is the reason we employed digital education learning platform for both the poor and the rich to be able to transform education system in Africa as a whole,” Eleburuike said.