The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) and GMind Academy are advancing plans to train 774 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Adoption Specialists, with one specialist proposed for each local government area in Nigeria.

The initiative is designed to help teachers, schools and other education stakeholders develop practical AI skills for teaching, learning, assessment, productivity and school administration.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of GMind AI and founder of GMind Academy, Dr Success Ojo, disclosed the plan during discussions with TRCN in Abuja.

Under the proposed initiative, the 774 specialists would receive free training and serve as local AI adoption champions, helping schools understand and use the technology responsibly.

Each participant would also receive two months of free access to the GMind AI platform to practise and demonstrate practical AI applications.

The proposed partnership also covers GMind Academy’s Certified AI-Ready Teacher (CART) programme, which equips educators to use AI for teaching, learning, assessment and other professional activities.

Ojo proposed that teachers who complete the programme could receive recognised professional development credits towards their continuing professional development requirements with TRCN, subject to the Council’s approval.

The initiative comes as TRCN works to incorporate emerging technologies into teacher professional standards. The Council is also developing standardised lesson plans with teachers from public and private schools across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. These lesson plans could provide the foundation for an AI-powered system capable of generating classroom resources.

TRCN Registrar, Dr Ronke Soyombo, said AI should support teachers rather than replace them. She noted that the technology could assist with lesson preparation and differentiated instruction, while teachers would continue to provide the human and emotional support required by learners.

According to GMind Academy, the proposed 774-specialist initiative would build on its existing training efforts, which have produced 684 AI specialists.

Ojo said having a trained AI adoption specialist in every local government area would help take AI education beyond national-level discussions by providing local support to teachers and schools seeking to adopt the technology.

If implemented, the initiative would establish a nationwide network of AI skills support across Nigeria’s 774 LGAs, giving teachers and other education stakeholders closer access to practical digital training and guidance.

Source: msmeafricaonline