The British Council English programmes support the Nigerian government through
partnerships with Ministries of Education, relevant basic education agencies and UK
expertise, to improve standards of the teaching, learning and assessment of English where
English is taught as a mandatory or elective subject in formal education systems.
Our English Programmes are implemented through the following modules:
- Strengthening Teacher English Proficiency (STEP) – where teacher and teacher
educators are equipped with key Classroom English and Digital Skills.
- Stimulating Teacher Resourcefulness in Digital Education (STRIDE): Teachers
acquire the 21st Century Skills necessary to equip their learners to succeed in
lifelong learning.
- Supporting Pedagogical Rigour in Networked Teaching (SPRINT): Contribute to
bridging the digital divide amongst teachers.
The modules address the following key challenges:
- The digital divide exacerbates inequalities between teachers. Teachers in Nigeria
need to gain 21st century skills, especially in communication and collaboration,
digital and English language classroom teaching skills, in order to participate in the
21st century global economy.
- Significant numbers of out-of-school children will need digital skills to participate in
21st century global economy. There are insufficient qualified teachers and many
children leaving school without adequate literacy and numeracy skills.
Teachers need to strengthen their English proficiency so that they can effectively deliver an
English Medium curriculum from P4 in Nigeria and these courses will help them do this.
Key successes/ projects:
- So far 20, 421 teachers from public schools have been trained on STEP module
across Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Lagos, Plateau, Oyo, Rivers and Edo directly by the
British council and 28 out of the 36 states have been trained in collaboration with
UBEC in the STEP national scale up partnership. So far 5,374 teachers have been
trained on STRIDE and SPRINT module across, Lagos, Plateau, Kaduna.
Key objective for this programme in the next 2-3 years is to scale the programme across
the states. The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) signed a partnership with
the British Council in 2023 to scale the STEP programme across 36 states of Nigeria and
the FCT. UBEC did this through the British Council training the Trainers of the
Strengthening Teacher English Proficiency (STEP) programme. The trainers are then
expected to cascade the training across their states.
The training is done with a view to transforming the teachers’ performance in the
classroom as well as improve learning outcomes through effective communication and
digital skills in the classroom. Participants of this training include four public school
teachers each from the 36 states of the federation, including the FCT.
The British Council is also working with National Commission for Colleges of Education
(NCCE) to adapt STEP, STRIDE and SPRINT into the NCE Minimum Standard. The goal
is to incorporate a pedagogy and methodology for classroom English and Digital Literacy
for classroom instruction into the pre-service teacher training curriculum in Nigeria. The
British council has already signed an MOU on this and planned to pilot the curriculum by
September 2024.
There is also an ongoing collaboration with Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria
(TRCN) to pilot online SPRINT Training with TRCN; to add digital literacy as part of the
offers for teachers’ continuous professional development. We are also working with the
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Federal Ministry
of Education to provide digital literacy content for both teacher professional development
and national access to other Nigerians on the Nigeria Learning Passport website and
through other collaborations.
- Programme – Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation (SIDP)
DAP Key Area – Digitally Upskilled Workforce
Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation (SIDP), funded by the FCDO Digital Access
Programme, aims to provide inclusive digital literacy training at basic and intermediate
levels to women, youth, and people with disabilities (PWD). The programme operates in
Indonesia, Kenya, and Nigeria. In each of the three countries, the training is being
delivered by Implementing Partners, appointed, and managed by the British Council. The
project endeavours to facilitate access to employment opportunities and services, thereby
improving livelihoods. It focuses on meeting the digital literacy needs of people who face
obstacles in economic and social participation. SIDP collaborates with 29 implementing
partners through grant partnerships at the country level.
SIDP Creates opportunities for digitally excluded individuals to develop the skills they need
to participate fully in the digital economy and in wider society.
The programme is delivered through 4 training manuals – Train the trainer guide, Basic
digital skills, intermediate digital skills and E-Commerce Skills. The programme runs in
Nigeria in Kano and Nasarawa States.
Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation details can be found here.
What are the objectives for the next 2-3 years?
Key objective for this programme in the next 2 -3 years is to scale the programme where
there is additional funding to support this. A later stage of the project will bring together
policymakers and researchers to consider the findings from training delivery and identify
what works in inclusive digital literacy.
Key successes/ projects:
- In Nigeria, the programme has trained 110 trainers (100 Community Level Trainers
and 10 Expert Level Trainers), 3,950 training beneficiaries and 10,000 people
accessing online information on opportunities for learning and work. 30
organisations (education institutions and civil society bodies) also received copies
of the training manuals in Nigeria.
- The programme has successfully trained 180,349 beneficiaries. With 210
organisations (education institutions and civil society bodies) receiving copies of
the training manuals across Nigeria, Kenya and Indonesia.
- Programme – Schools Connect
DAP Key Area – Digitally Upskilled Workforce
Schools Connect is the British Council’s programme for schools in Nigeria and around the
world. The schools connect programme works with education policymakers to explore
effective practices from other countries and help teachers to bring an international
perspective to the curriculum. This supports all young people to build the skills, knowledge,
and attitudes they need to respond to global challenges and develop international
understanding. The programme is a follow-on programme from the Connecting Classrooms
programme that was funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(FCDO).
The Connecting Classrooms programme was also designed to help young people develop
the knowledge, skills and values they need for life and work in a global economy by training
teachers and school leaders to use new interactive approaches and techniques in their
teaching to ensure that young people are equipped with the essential core 21st century
skills – Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Communication and Collaboration; Creativity
and Imagination; Digital Literacy; Citizenship; Student Leadership and Personal
Development. The Connecting Classrooms Core Skills programme was delivered in
Nigeria in November 2015 – 2021. The Schools Connect programme started in 2022 and is
running till date.
Schools Connect courses support teachers and school leaders’ effectiveness in embedding
or delivering pedagogy that mainstreams 21st century skills and inclusivity in their schools.
This will enable learners, which include girls and marginalized children, to become globally
aware and competitive. The British Council has also supported policymakers’ efforts, both
at the federal and state levels, to embed the Core Skills into the curriculum, thus creating a
more inclusive, quality education within their jurisdictions.
School Connect Programme details can be found here.
Key successes/ projects:
- Supported the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria in developing the School
Leadership Professional Standards in Nigeria which is being adopted as
framework for all school leadership training.
- Successful hosting the Annual Inclusive Education Conference in Nigeria. Bringing
stakeholders across the country to share challenges and find solutions targeted at
improving inclusive approaches to teaching and learning and assessment in the
Nigeria Education system.
- Working with policymakers at federal and state levels such as Universal Basic
Education Commission (UBEC), State Universal Education Board (SUBEB) and
Secondary Education Board (SEB) in the last 6 years, the British Council has
trained over 20,000 teachers and 7,800 school leaders from primary and
secondary schools across our four locations of Abuja, Lagos, Rivers, and Kano
states equipping them with skills to embed Digital tools and Critical Thinking and
Problem-Solving in learning in their schools’ classrooms and schools.
- Using our Leading Learning in Gender Equality Course, we have supported over
700 school leaders, and 210 School Education Quality Assurance Officers across
Abuja, Lagos and Rivers States with enhanced knowledge and skills to recognise
gendered barriers that affect girls’ and boys’ access to quality learning whilst
supporting them to create gender sensitive schools that enable all learners to
thrive and realise their full potential.
