John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria
MultiChoice Nigeria has received praises from teachers and students for its heavy investment in the public secondary school system through the MultiChoice Research Centre (MRC) Project.
Through the MRC Project, the company’s flagship Corporate Social Investment initiative, MultiChoice has provided quality teaching and learning aids to many schools across the country.
MRC is a project aimed at integrating audio-visual learning technologies in public schools via digital satellite television and other equipment such as DStv High Definition decoder and educational content. It was conceived to ensure that schools have access to the MultiChoice Education Bouquet, integrating the programmes into their curriculum in order to enhance the teaching process and learning experience.
Since the project, in partnership with Innovative Technology Literacy Services Limited (ITLSL), began in 2014, 332 schools in 29 states in Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones have benefited.
The MRC educational bouquet comprises of eight channels: Mindset Learn, Animal Planet, BBC World, Discovery , History, National Geographic, BBC and ED channels. The bouquet has improved the teaching and learning processes, especially by animating previously hitherto abstract subjects.
In turn, the two processes have been helped by MultiChoice’s decision to train teachers in the use of the MRC educational bouquet. Since the project kicked off, over 2,000 teachers have been trained as coordinators of the Resource Centres.
One of such is Uche Otuagha, an MRC coordinator in King’s College Annex, Lagos. He said the Resource Centre has been an immense source for teaching materials for most teachers in his school. “With the Resource Centre, we have observed that more students are now open to learning. We just appeal to MultiChoice to assist us in more ICT-related training programmes,” he said.
Similarly, Matthew Olugbade, a teacher at Ansar-U-Deen Comprehensive College, Ota, Ogun State, who has been an MRC coordinator for over five years, said that the MRC facility has improved academic performances in his school. “Prior to the establishment of the Resource Centre, the performances of our students were not so good. But today, the reverse is the case, “he said.
Olugbade, while urging MultiChoice to add alternative power sources to the initiative, also appealed to other corporate bodies to emulate MultiChoice to improve standards in public secondary schools.
Beneficiary students have also commended MultiChoice Nigeria for the initiative. Stanley Ugochukwu, a former student of College of Immaculate Conception, Enugu, now a second year medical student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, recalled that the MultiChoice laboratory in his school made him visualize some of the things he was taught in class.
“We were also able to learn non-academic subjects like the behaviour of some animals that we watched in movies about the animal kingdom at the MultiChoice laboratory,” he said.
Kingsley Nnamdi, who attended the same school with Ugochukwu and is in the same faculty and university with him, expressed similar sentiments.
“It (MRC) brought a new dimension to education by its adoption of audio-visual devices as teaching and learning aids. These certainly broadened my knowledge and world view,” he gushed.
John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, explained that the company chose the initiative because of it is committed to improving cognitive and other forms of learning in public schools in the country by leveraging on its assets and expertise. This, he believes, will enhance the overall development of the country’s educational system. He called on other corporate bodies and individual to join in the efforts to raise the standard of education in public-owned institutions.
“It is only through concerted efforts by public and private stakeholders that the country can make a positive impact in the education sector,” he remarked.
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