Free e-learning portals for primary and secondary school students is launched by the FG

The Federal Government has launched free e-learning portals for primary and secondary schools to enable them to keep learning even while schools are closed nationwide to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, who announced this on Friday in Abuja during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, said all students in Nigeria have been granted free access to the following e-learning portals; the schoolgate.ng and the mobileclassroom.com.ng App.

Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba said: “These e-learning platforms have been declared subscription free for Nigerian students in primary and secondary levels during the period of this lockdown as necessitated by COVID-19 pandemic.”

Mobile Classroom is an indigenous mobile application that enables students to learn audio-visually through devices like phones and computers.

It had earlier offered all Nigerian students free access to its online portal without subscription for the period of suspension of academic activities in schools nationwide.

The minister said the timetable for online classes in all the states of the federation that have keyed into the programme have been provided in the platforms and could also be accessed at the Federal Ministry of Education website.

Nwajiuba said the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, is collaborating with telecommunication sectors and network providers to grant the students free access to the portals on their mobile phones.

He added that the online learning is being coordinated by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in conjunction with the States Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs).

The Minister of State for Education added that the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu had also disclosed that Airtel Nigeria network users could already browse this e-learning platforms for free while other telecom service providers like MTN, Glo, and 9mobile are currently making technical adjustment to their systems to accommodate this free access.

“This is provision we have already made this in relation to how you can access these platforms,” he said.

On the question of how these classes are conducted, he explained that online classes are the same as off-line classes, saying “you can download them and keep and learn them at your pace.

“Online can be real time if you are on the same wave and time when it is being taught.”