Nigeria has tasked stakeholders in the information communications technology (ICT) sector to explore private partnerships in funding technology education in the country.

Speaking at a two-day ‘National Conference on ICT in Education’ in Abuja, supervising minister of education, Nyesom Wike, said government is currently incapable of effectively funding ICT education in schools across the country.

Therefore, he has called on the private sector to complement such efforts.

The minister challenged stakeholders at the conference to create financing models for ICT in education and to exploit public-private partnerships to help boost funding.

“The challenge of effectively funding ICT education in government schools is enormous. It is not a task that government alone can do. Stakeholders must find ways to get funding through private partnership. I believe that approach could go a long way in improving the financing of ICT education,” the minister said during an event held under the theme ‘Technology-Driven Education: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities.’

He recommended the use of appropriate technology with local content to be designed for use by the people in local languages and under local conditions.

“Furthermore, we should open up access to research and development; provide appropriate legal, regulatory and security frameworks to ensure that standards set for ICT in education are enforced,” he said.

Wike described the conference as strategic, especially considering that it aimed to evolve strategies for effective implementation of ICT in education.

He said it would also facilitate exchange of experiences in the use of ICT in education among stakeholders and provide concepts and tools for formulating viable ICT in education policies.

“We believe that successful contributions to meeting the millennium development goals and education for all goals are most likely to be made through the development and deployment of ICT in education,” he added.