The Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, Abuja, in partnership with Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board and the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), Ondo has flagged a 5-day workshop on Digitalization of Basic Education for Teachers, SUBEB and LGEA Officials in Ekiti State.

In a statement on November 30, 2023, from the Institute’s New Media Officer Bodunde Tenabe, the training which focused on BESDA Attendance Management Information System aimed to boost Teachers’ digital skills, service delivery, and efficiency in the basic education sector with the distribution of no fewer than 1145 tablet devices to all public primary and junior secondary schools in the State.

The Ekiti State Governor Mr. Biodun Oyebanji while presenting the tablets to the teachers said, the devices once connected to BAMIS (BESDA Attendance Management Information System) application, would aid the teachers and administrators in tracking learners’ attendance through a proper digital attendance monitoring system. The Governor who was represented by the SUBEB Executive Chairman, Professor Femi Akinwunmi stated that the training on the BAMIS system would go a long way to eliminating or greatly reducing out of school children phenomenon in the state.

Governor Oyebanji said that it was imperative to train the participants on the use of the application as the system enables teachers and school administrators to monitor learners’ attendance in real-time and with the use of the distributed smart tablet devices, the system collects attendance records, manages, stores and process data. He harped on the importance of professionalism and continuous skill acquisition in the teaching profession, stressing that it was imperative to provide teachers with adequate working tools and for teachers to be trained and retrained on modern teaching and monitoring methods.

Some of the participants interviewed at the end of the training commended the UBEC for initiating the programme, stating that the high–tech digital tablets given to them would be put to conscientious use for the development of basic education in Ekiti State. They also applauded the resource persons from the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) Ondo for their expertise and simplifying the concept behind the tablet’s usage.