By Muhd A Haidar
The Vice Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof Abdallah Uba Adamu, said about 733 staff from all the study centres spread across the country, including members of the university management were trained in the area of Open and Distance Learning (ODL)
Professor Abdallah was speaking during a three-week intense virtual training on ‘The of Administrative Staff in the Delivery of Quality Open and Distance Education in the Nigerian University System’ for senior administrative staff of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Abuja.
The training according to the vice chancellor has placed NOUN in a position to train all the 174 universities of the country in the area of Open and Distance Learning (ODL). “We are ready to export you to the whole world so that people will know that NOUN is simply the best. We are ready to train other universities because we have embraced the new normal.” he stressed.
Professor Adamu explained that that similar training for the university’s academic staff was conducted virtually two months ago, while another one for the junior staff had just commenced, he congratulated the participants from across all the study centres of the institution for their resilience.
The training had the university’s governing council chairman, Prof Peter Okebukola as the facilitator general alongside the vice-chancellor, Prof Abdalla Uba Adamu, as one of the facilitators.
Earlier speaking on managing e-learning platforms for quality university education, the deputy executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Ambassador Chris J Maiyaki noted that setting up a virtual learning for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) facilitation through which the students can communicate has become necessary for the optimal functionality of the system.
His words:-“For an administrator working in an ODL system, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is not sufficient, but there must be preparedness for full digital transformation, proficiency in the application of computer software.’’
According to him, an administrative staff is not only a stakeholder but a life enhancer due to the complexity of the job that includes managing Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and supervision of e-examination, which made him an all-rounder in the scheme of things.