FirstBank Unveils e-Learning Tool for Students

Nigeria’s premier and leading financial services provider Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan has announced that the bank in partnership with government and other stakeholders is extending its attention to immediate needs in the society in the face of the spread of the COVID-19, by putting in place complementary efforts in education to support students and minimise the disruption to education resulting from schools’ closure.

The CEO explained that many parents are concerned about children and wards whose education had truncated by the current crisis and are particularly worried about keeping children at home idle as all schools from primary through to tertiary institutions are closed across the nation.

Owing to this, the bank said it has concluded plans with the necessary authorities to enable as many children as possible access e-learning. Speaking on the initiative, a statement quoted Adeduntan to have said, “we are warmed by the fact that different organisations have risen to the various challenges and are supporting in areas such as health and welfare, and we feel the peculiar needs of our children and youth must not be left out and have therefore elected to focus on contributing to solving the current education challenge.

It further revealed that, “Education remains the bedrock of any society and we believe that when we educate our children we enable our nation and produce global citizens who provide ground breaking solutions for the continent and the world at large. “So, building educational partnerships is an avenue to support our children to remain resourceful and fully engaged at this time so they can compete favorably with their peers internationally. “It’s a responsible approach to empower them given that they are our future and the foundation to build our country to greatness. By partnering on this we are solving a problem for families and for our future.”

In addition, he said the bank was working with the states, the United Nations Global Compact; innovative technology firms such as Robert & John to provide e-learning solution with the Government approved curriculum for students across the country.

The roll out of the e-learning tool would begin first week in April starting with Lagos State where FirstBank stated that it would support the roll out of, “Roducate which has been adjudged a best fit solution by educators, teachers and all necessary authorities.”

It added that, “This solution has the full curriculum on both the online and offline versions with the offline version of particular interest as it eliminates the challenge posed by data affordability. “We call on well-meaning organisations and individuals to join us and collectively rise to address the challenges this current pandemic presents to our children and youth and are reaching out to other organisations with complementary solutions to also partner on this initiative for the youth who are our future. They must not be lost in this pandemic”.