UNICEF, Airtel, FG Expand Free Digital Learning To One Million Students
By Alice Etuka, Abuja
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Airtel Africa and the Federal Government have expanded access to free digital learning to about one million Nigerian students across nearly 2,000 schools.
UNICEF announced the development in a statement on Wednesday.
The partnership, which seeks to remove data costs as a barrier to education, is also equipping teachers with digital literacy skills and helping young people acquire employability and entrepreneurial skills to improve their prospects of securing jobs and building sustainable livelihoods.
The progress was highlighted during a joint UNICEF–Airtel Africa delegation’s visits to schools and youth programmes in Lagos, alongside high-level engagements with government officials in Abuja to strengthen digital learning delivery across Nigeria.
The delegation, led by Garreth Spillane, Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Airtel Africa, visited Government Senior College, Agege, and St George’s U.N.A. Primary School, where students and teachers demonstrated the use of digital learning tools, including artificial intelligence, in classroom activities.
At Yaba College of Technology, young people demonstrated how digital skills initiatives, including Passport to Earning and the Youth Agency Marketplace, known as YOMA, are helping them develop practical competencies and access opportunities for mentorship, internships, entrepreneurship and employment.
The partnership has also supported the training of more than 19,000 teachers in digital literacy, strengthening educators’ capacity to integrate technology into teaching and learning.
A major component of the initiative is the removal of data charges on selected education platforms, allowing students and teachers to access learning resources without the cost of internet data becoming an additional obstacle.
Platforms covered by the arrangement include the Nigeria Learning Passport, the Federal Ministry of Education’s Inspire and Ignite platforms, the Digital National Education Management Information System and YOMA.
The Nigeria Learning Passport alone has recorded more than 2.5 million registered students and nearly 100,000 registered teachers, reflecting the growing reach of digital education resources in the country.
In Abuja, the delegation met with the Office of the Vice President and the Federal Ministry of Education to discuss measures to improve reliable school connectivity, expand access to quality digital content, strengthen teacher training and enhance the use of education data.
The discussions also focused on inclusive digital learning, child online safety and sustainable financing, with the partners reaffirming their commitment to ensuring that technology translates into improved learning outcomes rather than connectivity alone.
Speaking on the partnership, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Rownak Khan, said free digital learning was helping bridge the digital divide while bringing children and young people closer to the knowledge, skills and opportunities needed to shape their futures.
She said the collaboration was supporting teachers and creating pathways from learning to earning, stressing that girls, children with disabilities and learners in underserved communities must be among the first to benefit.
Khan added that expanding access to digital learning was essential to ensuring that children, regardless of their circumstances, could participate in the opportunities created by technology.
Spillane said connectivity could transform education when it enabled students to access quality learning resources and helped teachers use digital tools effectively.
He reaffirmed Airtel Africa’s commitment to working with UNICEF and governments to connect schools, eliminate data-cost barriers through zero-rated learning platforms and support teachers across the continent.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said transforming Nigeria’s education system required strong partnerships aligned with government priorities and learners’ needs.
She emphasised the need to strengthen teachers’ capacity, expand access to quality digital content, protect children online and ensure that digital learning reached every child, regardless of location.
Across 13 African countries, the five-year Airtel Africa–UNICEF partnership has connected more than 3,000 schools, removed data charges on more than 60 learning platforms and reached over 2.5 million children.
The partners said continued collaboration would focus on expanding access, improving the quality of digital education and ensuring that children and young people could turn digital learning into meaningful educational, economic and livelihood opportunities.
