ICT training for students in rural area.

The Project’s vision is to equip all youths in rural areas of Cross River State, Nigeria, particularly young school leavers with ICT skills to compete favourably with their urban counterparts. Thus, creating a world with limitless possibilities in information sharing and communication in rural areas of the state.

The initiative intends to carry out a free two (2) days of practical ICT training in all high schools for the graduating class in rural communities in the northern part of Cross River State comprising five (5) local government areas. Namely: Obanliku, Obudu, Bekwarra, Ogoja and Yala Local Government Areas. The training will last for four (4) months every year – a month for each Local Government Areas.

Computer literacy in schools is the responsibility of government and affiliate institutions to impart. However, more attention is given to schools in urban areas to the detriment of rural communities.  Igbe and Ushie (2016) study revealed that many students in rural areas perform better in pen and paper tests than computer-based tests. The students are mostly inundated with fear by merely sighting the computer for the first time. In this fear, the students tend to click randomly and indiscriminately without direction. Unfortunately, in examinations like JAMB, the misuse of mouse pointer portend danger for the students. Students may know the answers to questions but their inability to click and submit appropriately leads to no or low scores. The low scores impinged their chances of gaining admission into tertiary institutions or best provide them with opportunity for courses with less impact on their communities. Given the stated problems, the Initiative finds the need to fill this gap deliberately created by the state's institutions. The Initiative believes that students in rural areas could compete favourably with their urban counterparts if given the same opportunity.

The original plan was to register the candidates with Sunset Computers after graduation from high school to prepare them for all examinations requiring CBT. The training was targeted to last for three months for a discounted fee of three thousand naira (N3,000) and issue a certificate at the end of the exercise. However, the turnout rate for the pilot training was too low due to financial constraints on the part of the rural students. In collaboration with Sunset Computers, the initiative was re-strategised by getting the candidates to buy a form for five hundred naira (N500) for a week of training. The turnout rate was overwhelming – far above the training facilities. Hence, the Project seeks to extend the initiative to all high schools in the rural Northern Senatorial District of the state. The initiative intends to carry out a free two (2) days of practical ICT training in all high schools for the graduating class in rural communities in the northern part of Cross River State comprising five (5) local government areas. Namely: Obanliku, Obudu, Bekwarra, Ogoja and Yala Local Government Areas. The training will last for four (4) months every year – a month for each Local Government Area.

A 2016 study by Igbe and Ushie published in the Multi-Disciplinary Journal of Research and Development Perspectives (MJRDP), revealed that urban students perform better in examinations like the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) than their rural counterparts in the Northern Cross River State. The study used secondary data to analyse students’ performance from 2005 to 2015. That is ten years before the introduction of the Computer Based Test (CBT) in such examinations for high school graduates who undertake qualifying tests into tertiary institutions. The study interviewed teachers and students in the study area to corroborate the quantitative results. The respondents believed that urban students are better equipped with ICT skills than their rural counterparts. The study concludes that poor performance in examinations involving CBT is associated with poor ICT proficiency.

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and other affiliate examination boards introduced Computer-Based Tests because of the enrollment number. The boards’ assessment of students usually takes place from June to August (2 months) every year. These assessments qualify the students to gain admission into various tertiary institutions when they meet the requisite cut-off mark. The cut-off mark, which ranges from 200 – 400, varies depending on the courses. The score automatically stratifies the students into different career courses – sometimes not the preferred choice of course. The boards’ decision to introduce the CBT puts aside the fact that many rural schools are yet to be equipped with ICT facilities or provisions made to that effect.

Computer literacy and practicability in schools is the responsibility of government and affiliate institutions to impart. However, more attention is given to schools in urban areas to the detriment of rural communities.  Igbe and Ushie (2016) study revealed that many students in rural areas perform better in pen and paper tests than computer-based tests. The students are mostly inundated with fear by merely sighting the computer for the first time. In this fear, the students tend to click randomly and indiscriminately without direction. Unfortunately, in examinations like JAMB, the misuse of mouse pointer portend danger for the students. Students may know the answers to questions but their inability to click and submit appropriately leads to no or low scores. The low scores impinged their chances of gaining admission into tertiary institutions or best provide them with opportunity for courses with less impact on their communities. Dr Martins Adie, a lecturer at the University of Calabar, who has been supervising JAMB tests and other examinations like Post UTME confirmed that students from rural communities are affected by the inability to handle computer-based tests. According to him, "it is not that the students are not intelligent or do not know the answers to the questions but do not know how to click the buttons to move to the next question or submit”. Other observers who have also encountered similar situations or complaints reverberate the same position by saying: “the students sometimes unknowingly or accidentally close the window and could no longer login”. Given the afforested problems, Project Future-Generation finds the need to fill this gap unknowingly or deliberately created by the state's institutions. The Project believed that students in rural areas could compete favourably with their urban counterparts if given the same opportunity. In other words, if the students in rural areas of the northern senatorial district of the state are familiarised with practical ICT knowledge, they will perform better in examinations involving CBT and eventually gain admission to study professional courses like Medicine, Law, Accounting, Nursing, and etcetera, often undertaken by urban students with hi-tech capabilities

The original plan was to register the candidates with a Computer training centre after graduation from high school. The training was targeted to last for three months for a discounted fee of less than two ($2) dollars and issue a certificate at the end of the exercise. However, the turnout rate for the pilot training was too low due to financial constraints on the part of the rural students. In collaboration with Sunset Computers, the initiative was re-strategised by getting the candidates to buy a form for a ($1) dollars fee for a week of training. The turnout rate was overwhelming – far above the training facilities. Hence, the Initiative seeks to extend the initiative to all high schools in the rural Northern Senatorial District of the state. 

The initiative intends to carry out a free two (2) days of practical ICT training in all high schools for the graduating class in rural communities in the northern part of Cross River State comprising five (5) local government areas. Namely: Obanliku, Obudu, Bekwarra, Ogoja and Yala Local Government Areas. The training will last for four (4) months every year – a month for each Local Government Area.

The initiative started in 2018 in the Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria, in collaboration with Sunset Computers – A division of Bikom-Icon Ventures. It organises free ICT tutorials and training for high school leavers who are waiting for admission into tertiary institutions to bridge the gap created in their schools. The initiative introduces candidates to ICT basics, particularly how to use computers and surf the internet with ease. The training becomes necessary because most schools in rural areas of the state lack basic ICT facilities. The students in those areas neither know the shape of a typical desktop computer nor its practical usability, which has been a herculean task to compete adequately in any given CBT examinations.