International Education Journal, 2005, 6(3), 316-321.
ISSN 1443-1475 © 2005 Shannon Research Press.
http://iej.cjb.net
316
Information and communication technology and
education: Analysing the Nigerian national policy for
information technology
Mudasiru Olalere Yusuf
Department of Science Education, University of Ilorin, Nigeria [email protected]
This paper presents an analysis of the Nigerian National Policy for Information
Technology. The analysis reveals that the policy is inadequate to impact positively
on the Nigerian education system, and that the philosophical frame of reference is
market driven. The policy places little emphasis on the integration and infusion of
ICT in the country’s education system. Policy implications and suggestions are
offered to ensure maximum use of ICT potentials in the Nigerian school system.
Information technology, education, Nigerian, national policy, technology integration
INTRODUCTION
Information and communication technology (ICT) is an indispensable part of the contemporary
world. In fact, culture and society have to be adjusted to meet the challenges of the knowledge
age. The pervasiveness of ICT has brought about rapid technological, social, political, and
economic transformation, which has eventuated in a network society organised around ICT
(Castells, 1996).
The field of education has not been unaffected by the penetrating influence of information and
communication technology. Undoubtedly, ICT has impacted on the quality and quantity of
teaching, learning, and research in traditional and distance education institutions. In concrete
terms, ICT can enhance teaching and learning through its dynamic, interactive, and engaging
content; and it can provide real opportunities for individualised instruction. Information and
communication technology has the potential to accelerate, enrich, and deepen skills; motivate and
engage students in learning; helps to relate school experiences to work practices; helps to create
economic viability for tomorrow’s workers; contributes to radical changes in school; strengthens
teaching, and provides opportunities for connection between the school and the world (Davis and
Tearle, 1999; Lemke and Coughlin, 1998). Information and communication technology can make
the school more efficient and productive, thereby engendering a variety of tools to enhance and
facilitate teachers’ professional activities (Kirschner and Woperies, 2003).
In research, ICT provides opportunities for schools to communicate with one another through e-
mail, mailing lists, chat rooms, and so on. It also provides quicker and easier access to more
extensive and current information, and it can be used to do complex mathematical and statistical
calculations. Furthermore, it provides researchers with a steady avenue for the dissemination of
research reports and findings (Yusuf and Onasanya, 2004).
Based on a review of 28 major reports on technology integration in American Schools, Culp,
Honey and Mandinach (2003) advanced three major reasons for ICT in education. They suggested
that technology is usually (a) a tool for addressing challenges in teaching and learning, (b) a
change agent, and (c) a central force in economic competitiveness. As a tool for addressing
Yusuf 317
challenges in teaching and learning, technology has capabilities for delivery, management, and
support of effective teaching and learning. It is equally good for geographically dispersed
audiences, and it also helps students to collect and make sense of complex data. It also supports
diverse and process–oriented forms of writing and communication, and it broadens the scope and
timeliness of information resources available in the classroom. As a change agent, it catalyses
various other changes in the content, methods, and overall quality of teaching and learning,
thereby ensuring constructivist inquiry-oriented classrooms. As a central force in economic
competitiveness, it deals with economic and social shifts that have technology skills critical to
future employment of today’s students.
Looking at the role of education in the development of any society, the school will be
indispensable in developing an ICT culture of any country. The school must provide effective
leadership in ICT integration, through research, modelling of effective integration of ICT, and
provision of opportunities for professional development of citizens of a country.
A NATIONAL POLICY FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
In order to husband the potentials of ICT, most nations of the world have evolved national
information and communication technology policies, to serve as a framework for ICT integration
in all facets of the society. African countries, and particularly Nigeria, are not exceptions to this
practice.
The digital divide between advanced and developing countries, particularly in Africa, is well
established. Like most African countries, Nigeria as a nation, came late and slowly in the use of
ICT in all sectors of the nation’s life. Although Africa has 12 per cent of the total world
population, the continent has two per cent presence in ICT use (Jensen, 2002). In Africa, there is
low access to basic ICT equipment, low internet connectivity, low participation in the
development of ICT equipment, and even low involvement in software development. In fact, New
York City has higher Internet connectivity than the whole of Africa (Ajayi, 2002; Hall, 1998).
The seeming backwardness of the African continent in ICT necessitated a continent-wide
initiative, the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), which had its origin in the African
Regional Symposium on Telematic for Development, held in Addis Ababa, in April, 1995. The
symposium organised by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), UNESCO, the International Development Research Centre
(IDRO), and Bellanet International, urged the ECA Conference of Ministers to consider the
importance for Africa of the global information revolution (Ajayi, 2002; ADF, 1999). Based on
this recommendation, the ECA Conference of Ministers in May 1995 passed resolution 795
(XXXl) titled ‘Building Africa’s Information Highway’, which called for work on national
information and communication networks for planning and decision–making as part of an African
information highway, and for the establishment of a high level working group made up of African
experts in ICT, to prepare Africa’s entry into the information society. Subsequently, in May 1996,
the ECA Conference of Ministers through its resolution 812 (XXXI) approved the plan of action
prepared by the high-level working group entitled the African Information Society Initiative “An
action framework to build Africa’s Information and Communication infrastructure” (Ajayi, 2002;
ADF, 1999).
The AISI action plan framework called for the formation of National Information and
Communication Infrastructure (NICI) plans and strategies. This was to be an on-going process
through planning, implementation, and regular evaluation of programs and pilot projects,
developed according to the needs and priorities of each country (ADF, 1999). It should be stressed
that Nigeria did not achieve much on the NICI plan and strategies at the beginning of 1999.
318 Analysing the Nigerian national policy for information technology
A significant leap was made when the Nigerian government in October of 1999 issued a document
on telecommunications development strategy and investment opportunities in Nigeria. Similarly,
in October 1999, the National Policy on Telecommunication was approved (Ajayi, 2002). The
document contained policy statements on objectives, structure, competition policy, satellite
communication, management structure, finance and funding, manpower development and
training, internet, research and development, safety and security, international perspectives, and
policy implementation and review (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2000).
The national policy on telecommunication was a key step in the development of infrastructural
base for ICT. In 2001, the Federal Government approved the Nigerian National Policy for
Information Technology (IT), and followed this up with the establishment of the National
Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which was charged with the
implementation of the policy (Ajayi, 2002).
A NATIONAL POLICY FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
Information and communication technology (ICT) policy, as noted by Rowland (1996) and cited
in Hafkin (2002), can be categorised into vertical, infrastructural, and horizontal policies. Vertical
ICT policy addresses sectoral needs, such as education, health and tourism. The infrastructural
aspect deals with the development of national infrastructure and this is closely linked with
telecommunication. The horizontal aspect deals with the impact on broader aspects of society
such as freedom of information, tariff and pricing, privacy and security. These three aspects are
adequately addressed in the Nigerian IT policy. It is now important to examine the document as it
affects education. In making this analysis, the writer has been guided by four key questions.
• What does the Nigerian national policy for information technology tell us about education?
• How adequate is the policy for the integration of ICT in the Nigerian education system?
• What implications are there for the Nigerian education system?
• What agenda is needed to redefine the national policy to cater for the country’s education
system?
Answers to these questions are intended to provide a basis for redefining and re-development of
the Nigerian national policy on information technology (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2001). First,
the document mission statement recognised the need ‘To Use IT for Education’ (p. iii). In
addition, the general objectives in three (xv, xvi and xxiv) of the 31 stated objectives stressed that
information technology must be used to:
xv) empower the youth with IT skills and prepare them for global competitiveness.
xvi) integrate IT into the mainstream of education and training.
xxiv) establish new multifaceted IT institutions as centres of excellence to ensure
Nigeria’s competitiveness in international markets (pp. iv – v).
In order to achieve these objectives, 20 strategies were outlined. The fifth strategy was stated in
this way: “Restructuring the education system at all levels to respond effectively to the challenges
and imagined impact of the information age and in particular, the allocation of a special IT
development fund to education at all levels” (p. vi).
It should be underscored that although as the mission, general objectives, and strategies
recognised the importance of ICT in education, the document has no sectoral (vertical) application
to education. Issues relating to education are subsumed under sectoral application for human
resources development. Under this sectoral application objectives 1 to 4 relate to education as
follows:
• to develop a pool of IT engineers, scientists, technicians, and software developers;
Yusuf 319
• to increase the availability of trained personnel;
• to provide attractive career opportunities; and
• to develop requisite skills in various aspects of IT.
In order to achieve the objectives for human resources development, nine major strategies are
outlined. These strategies are targeted at the building of knowledge and skills in information
technology. These include (a) making the use of ICT mandatory at all levels of educational
institutions; (b) development of ICT curricular for primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions; (c)
use of ICT in distance education; (d) ICT companies investment in education; (e) study grant and
scholarship on ICT; (f) training the trainer scheme for National Youth Service Corp members (g)
ICT capacity development at zonal, state, and local levels; (h) growth of private and public sector
dedicated ICT primary, secondary, and tertiary educational institutions; and (i) working with
international and domestic initiatives for transfer of ICT knowledge. In spite of these objectives
and strategies that are focused on education, the document is inadequate to cater for the needs of
the country’s education system. Some of the deficiencies noted in the document are enumerated as
follows.
First, the policy has no specific special application to education. While there are sectoral
applications for health, agriculture, art, culture, tourism; and governance, education is subsumed
under human resource development. An ADF (1999) recommendation explicitly notes the need
for sectoral allocation dedicated just to education.
Second, the objectives and strategies related to education as reflected in the sectoral application
for human resource development are market driven. Students are only being prepared to acquire
knowledge and skills for future jobs. The focus is only on learning about ICT, which is regarded
as ‘Topicality’, whereas for primary and secondary schools the focus is regarded as the early stage
of ICT use in education (Cloke and Sharif, 2001). This philosophy limits the potential of ICT in
education to a central force in economic competitiveness. Its potentials as a tool for addressing
challenges in teaching and learning and as change agent are thus neglected (Culp, Honey and
Mandinach, 2003). Students need not learn about computers only; ICT should be integrated for
the development and management of teaching and learning in Nigerian schools.
Third, teachers are indispensable for successful learning about ICT, and learning and teaching
through ICT. Computer education introduced into the Nigerian secondary school since 1988 has
largely been unsuccessful as a result of teachers’ incompetence (Yusuf, 1998). Empirical studies
have established that teachers’ ability and willingness to use ICT and integrate it into their
teaching is largely dependent on the professional development they receive (Davis, 2003; Pearson,
2003; Selinger and Austin, 2003; Watson, 2001). The Nigerian national IT policy is silent on
teacher education and teachers’ ICT professional development as envisaged by the review of
Culp, et al. (2003).
Learning through ICT entails the development of nationally relevant context software for school
use. The national policy does not recognise the need to create quality software. A review of 28 key
policy documents over 20 years in the United States (Culp, et al., 2003) puts forward seven key
recommendations. The second emphasises the creation of more high quality content and software.
The available software in Nigerian schools is imported with no local content. The policy
document does not address this issue.
A further recommendation by Culp, et al. (2003) also includes an increase in research, evaluation,
and assessment. None of the issues relevant to ICT application in the Nigerian education system
address the issue of research, evaluation, and assessment, all of which are critical to ensure
success. Research, evaluation, and assessment should address access, professional development,
use and competence, attitude, and so on.
320 Analysing the Nigerian national policy for information technology
In addition, the document has no specific direction on ICT or technology plan at institutional
levels. Advanced countries have specific plans for ICT. For instance, in Britain the National Grid
for learning initiatives, and the strategy for Education Technology, specifically addressed ICT
issues in United Kingdom and Northern Ireland respectively (Selinger and Austin, 2003). The
Nigerian national policy does not give any guidelines on school technology plans.
The implications of these inadequacies are that the national policy cannot adequately take care of
the need of the Nigerian education system. Its educational focus is limited to the market driven
goal. The need for integration in teaching and learning, the need for quality professional
development programs for pre-service and serving teachers, research, evaluation and
development, and the development of local context software are not addressed. These are major
components of quality ICT application in education.
In view of these inadequacies, there is a need to revise the Nigerian national policy for
information technology. Such revisions should be undertaken to involve stakeholders in the area
of education so that they can ensure that the policy covers issues related to learning about ICT and
learning through ICT. Furthermore, the objectives in sectoral application areas should address
education specifically in order to broaden the market driven objectives. The integration of ICT
into every aspect of teaching and learning should also be the key focus.
Although the issue of infrastructure is implicit in the present policy, it should be reviewed in such
a way that access policy is addressed in concrete terms, since this is important in ICT integration.
Infrastructural needs must be addressed across zones and school levels.
Since teachers are vitally important to ICT integration in education, the national policy on IT
should address the issue of teachers’ professional development. This should incorporate issues
relating to teacher training institutions and ICT, pre-service teacher education, in–service teacher
education, and standards for teacher competence and certification in ICT.
Since research, evaluation, and assessment are critical for ICT usage in education, the national
policy should identify a frame of reference in order to gauge success of ICT application in
education. Such a frame of reference will encourage refinement of school practices relating to ICT
integration.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite the fact that Nigeria came late into the ICT world, the adoption of the Nigerian national
policy for information technology in 2001 is the right step in ICT application in every sector of the
nation’s life. The document is designed to ensure that Nigeria as a nation recognises the strategic
importance of ICT for national development. Successful application in every sector can only be
assured through adequate coverage of needed areas. Identified gaps should be filled through the
involvement of important stakeholders in education.
Information and communication technology is a powerful tool for the development of quality
teaching and learning; it is a catalyst for radical change in existing school practices and a veritable
vehicle for preparing the students for the future. Success in the implementation of an ICT policy
will be dependent on the recognition of the importance of sectoral application to education and
sustainable implementation. Maximising ICT potentials will involve quality ICT policy, greater
involvement of private and public in the funding of the implementation, and proper
implementation and monitoring.
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