MTN Foundation has trained a fresh batch of Nigerian teachers on how to use artificial intelligence tools to improve classroom instruction, deepening its push to modernise education delivery across the country’s public schools.
The training, delivered in partnership with the Senator Abiru Innovation Lab and Co-Creation Hub, formed the tenth week of an ongoing twelve week Teachers Programme designed to build practical digital competencies among educators. The session was facilitated by Oluwatobi Olayanju, a data scientist and business analyst at Data Science Nigeria, who led participants through a virtual class on AI literacy, responsible technology use and practical ways to weave artificial intelligence into everyday lesson delivery.
Olayanju introduced teachers to a broad set of AI powered tools covering lesson planning, visual design, content creation, assessment generation and multimedia learning. Educators were shown how chatbots can simplify lesson preparation, how visual design platforms can enrich teaching materials and how text to video and text to audio applications, including tools like NotebookLM for generating podcasts, can make classroom content more engaging for students. He also pointed participants to ditchthattextbook.com, describing it as a centralised repository that brings together many of these digital resources in one place for educators to explore.
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Teachers who have gone through the programme reported picking up skills ranging from AI powered lesson planning and two dimensional animation to cloud based note taking and digital content development, according to organisers. Joy Medupin, who manages the training component of the programme for Co-Creation Hub, described the response from participants as encouraging, noting that the initiative is helping teachers build practical confidence with digital tools rather than just theoretical awareness.
The intervention speaks to a wider gap in teacher readiness across the region. Nigeria has more than 10.2 million primary school aged children out of school, one of the highest figures globally according to UNESCO, and when secondary aged adolescents are included that number rises closer to 20 million. Advocates argue that beyond getting children into classrooms, equipping the teachers already there with modern digital skills is just as urgent. A 2022 Brookings Institution survey found that fewer than 30 percent of teachers across sub-Saharan Africa had received any form of formal digital skills training, a gap the MTN Foundation and its partners say the Teachers Programme is designed to close.
With two more weeks of training left before participants move into a final project phase, organisers say the cohort is on track to produce educators who are fully equipped to teach and assess students in an AI integrated classroom environment. The programme adds to a growing list of corporate backed education interventions in Nigeria, as private sector players increasingly step in to support teacher capacity building alongside government led digital literacy efforts.
MTN Foundation has continued to position teacher development as a core pillar of its education investments, with the Teachers Programme forming part of a broader strategy to strengthen digital readiness in Nigerian classrooms as AI adoption accelerates across the education sector.
