Digitising education in Nigeria: lessons from COVID-19

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.