November 01, (THEWILL) – A non-governmental organisation, Lyceum Foundation, has urged the Ogun State Government to provide technology tools for learning in state-owned primary and secondary schools, to tackle learning difficulties among pupils in the state.
Director of the Foundation, Mrs Maureen Ola-Williams, stated this while addressing the teachers on Thursday, at the Special Education Need Training for Ogun State Teachers, held at St. Peter’s College Olomore, Abeokuta, the state capital.
Ola-Williams appealed to the Dapo Abiodun-led administration to provide technology materials such as smart bulbs and speech to texts or text-to-speech apps, among others, which could be used by the teachers to educate pupils suffering from learning disabilities like dyslexia.
She explained that some pupils or students have virtual and hearing disabilities, hence the need for smart bulbs which display videos and audio to aid the learning process and resolve learning disabilities in them.
Ola-Williams, who is the Head of Lyceum Schools, Abeokuta, also explained speech-to-text and text-to-speech app usage in the classrooms as such technology with a conducive environment would help pupils assimilate faster and improve their learning abilities.
She maintained that the training of the 100 teachers in partnership with the State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, would go a lot to educate and provide skills for teachers on how to manage and handle learning difficulties as well as providing basic care for learners
“There must be access to learning materials and resources to create a conducive environment. Some who have these learning disabilities are virtual learners, you need things like technology like smart bulbs, each classroom has a smart bulb which is a way of helping children learn faster, a smart bulb will display video and also help in audio, it goes a long way for children who are virtual learners or auditory learners.
“Also you need apps, like speech-to-texts or text-to-speech, and those require funding. Governments should look into this, create enough resources and fund the school educational sector and also create more training like this and provision and implementation of amenities that will help the children thrive, learn and favour those who have learning difficulties”, she added.
