Experts in the education sector have advocated the need for more financing for edtech solutions to increase adoption and boost the quality of education in Nigeria.
This was the takeaway from the just concluded March edition of Edtech Mondays, an initiative organised by the Co-Creation Hub (CCHUB) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation’s Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT.
The theme of the session was: “Accelerating Edtech Financing for Equity and Access in Nigeria”, which was moderated by the Programme Associate, Education, CCHUB, Abigail Anaza-Mark.
The Chief Executive Officer/Co-Founder of Edupoint, Oscar Obiorah, stated that private investment had contributed a lot in amplifying the reach of ed-tech solutions and consequently improved the quality of education in Nigeria.
He said, “Beyond that, education has become more accessible and affordable with financing for edtech solutions. Also, we are beginning to see ed-tech start-ups delve into R&D to improve the learning outcome of students.
“If you have a lot of startups who are now plugging into several already existing platforms, and if you have startups who are also building solutions without any need for internet connectivity. We will begin to see that we’re heading somewhere compared to where we were 30 years ago.”
The Executive Director of LEAP Africa, Kehinde Ayeni, said a lot of resources and funds had been mobilised into the development and adoption of ed-tech solutions both pre and post-COVID globally.
Another expert, Gbenga Agoye, explained that there had been a growing interest in ed-tech solutions as a lot of investors were now staking funds on those solutions.
He identified scalability, market potentials, efficacy and infrastructure of the solutions as critical factors investors considered in determining viability.
