Provost of the College of Education (COE) Zuba, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Dr Sule Mundi, has emphasised the need to prioritise the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in foundational learning as a crucial element in shaping the future generations.
The provost made the call in Abuja, Thursday, at a three- day maiden national conference organised by the School of Early Childhood Care Education and Primary Education Studies of the college.
Dr Mundi stated that eliminating challenges to childhood education was paramount in laying the solid foundation for children at the basic levels of their education.
He called on all stakeholders to collaborate in order to change the narratives from the near-obsolete use of conventional means of teaching and instruction to digital tools in order to facilitate the effective acquisition of knowledge and skills.
The provost said the aim of the conference was to sensitise teachers, especially on the modern trends in education, in order to ensure that children are equipped at an early age with the necessary knowledge and skills to thrive in an ever evolving world of technology-driven education.
“The conference is about the new things that are happening in the areas of training children in our modern world. It is about ensuring that every child in Nigeria has the opportunity for quality early childhood education and care in those foundational years that set them up on a trajectory in life that they can carry through their teenage years right through adulthood,” he stressed.
The keynote speaker and Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Abuja, Prof Abalaka Apah, in his remarks, advocated for increased awareness and development of clear outlines in the use of AI by educationists.
According to him. this has become necessary because education in the 21st Century is driven by AI, making it compulsory for all in the teaching- learning endeavours to brace up, adapt to the trend.
Dean of the School of Early Childhood Care Education and Primary Education Studies of the college, Dr Comfort Bissala Ekele, in her contribution advised parents to key into “the trends in early childhood education and primary education studies constantly evolving and driven by new researches, innovative technologies and deeper understanding of child development.”