By Mohammed AWAL
The closing ceremony of the Skills for Success project, a collaborative effort between the British Council and Wikimedia Foundation, has been held in Accra, marking a significant milestone in “empowering Ghanaian educators and students to navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape.”
The event, held at the British Council premises, brought together stakeholders, educators, students, and representatives from both organizations to celebrate the successful conclusion of the initiative.
The Skills for Success project, launched with the aim of fostering digital literacy and skill development among educators and students in Ghana, has been hailed as a pioneering effort in leveraging technology for educational empowerment.
Over the course of its implementation, the project provided training, resources, and support to equip participants with the necessary tools to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
Speaking at the ceremony, representatives from the British Council and Wikimedia Foundation expressed their delight at the positive impact the project has had on the Ghanaian educational community. They emphasized the importance of digital literacy in today’s society and reiterated their commitment to continuing to support similar initiatives in the future.
In his address, Chikodi Onyemerela, the Director of Programmes at the British Council Nigeria, said the objective of the Skills for Success project was to address a critical current and future needs in the education system across Sub Saharan Africa starting from Ghana by equiping student teachers from the Colleges of Education with essential media and information literacy (MIL) skills to enhance their professional development.
He said the course focused on harnessing the power of online resources, particularly Wikipedia, to enable student teachers to validate information, engage in factual writing, and facilitate collaborative learning through the platform.
A recent study conducted by the IFC found that over 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030 and that nearly 65% of current jobs employers are trying to fill require at least basic digital skills.
Employers surveyed as part of the study reported that the top ten skills required in future employees include: critical and analytical thinking, communication, problem solving, leadership, collaboration, computer literacy, application of technology, creativity, decision-making and reasoning, and teamwork. According to the World Bank, in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 50% of the countries have even basic computer skills as part of the curriculum.
About the project
Skills for Success is a programme aimed at supporting teachers to develop media and information literacy and factual writing skills and incorporate them into their teaching in Ghana
Through incorporating elements of the Ghanaian curriculum, reading Wikipedia in the classroom (the Wikimedia Foundation’s flagship teacher training programme) with factual writing, the project delivers a multifaceted curriculum aimed at upskilling teachers’ literacies
Through integrating these competencies into lessons spanning various subjects, students will be aptly equipped to tackle contemporary hurdles such as:
– Verifying the credibility of online information sources
– Navigating and mitigating exposure to false or misleading content
– Cultivating a meaningful presence in virtual platforms
– Enhancing communication proficiencies, notably in writing, essential for higher education and professional environments.
Furthermore, the scalability of Skills for Success extends promisingly to Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, holding the potential to replicate its success in empowering educators and learners in navigating the digital landscape across these regions in the foreseeable future.
