The Oyo State government has collaborated with Google to train 30,000 secondary school students on Digital Education across the 33 Local Government Areas and the 35 Local Development Council Areas (LCDAs) of the state.

Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun, said on Wednesday that the initiative was in line with the OYSG Digital Advocacy Drive and consequently reiterated the vision of Governor Abiola Ajimobi to make Information and Communication Technology (ICT) the bedrock of learning.

He stressed that the pilot sessions of the programme commenced on Thursday, February 16, 2017 at St. Patrick Grammar School, Basorun, Immanuel College, UI and Loyola College, Ibadan, adding that another round of sessions will hold on Thursday, March 2, 2017 at Ibadan Grammar School, Molete, Ibadan, Oba Abass Alesiloye Secondary School, Eleyele and Lagelu Grammar School, Agugu, Ibadan

Mr Arulogun added that subsequent training of secondary school students will continue across the following 8 zones of the state; Ibadan City, Ibadan Less City, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Irepo, Saki, Kajola and Ibarapa after assessment and evaluation of the pilot sessions.

In his own remarks at the pilot session, the Special Adviser to Governor Ajimobi on ICT, Mr Niyi Ajao, explained that the governor considered ICT as a prerequisite skill for students in an increasingly competitive digital economy, noting that office of the Special Adviser (ICT) and the Ministry of Education has identified centres for the training of the 30,000 secondary school students.

In a related development, Mr Arulogun also said that digital technology has a lot of potentials, saying that the future of the country is bright with the increasing trend of internet connectivity.

Mr Arulogun, while speaking at the launch of a free wireless service by Flobyt Nigeria in Lagos recently, urged the founders of the initiative not to relent in their efforts to democratize internet usage in the country.

“Flobyt free wireless is here to democratize internet usage for the citizens of the country. The company is encouraging youth empowerment and employment to help the economy of the country grow with a strong entrepreneurial bias,” he added.