The Lagos State Government says it will be meeting with telecommunications service providers on the issue of data subscription, toward boosting e-learning during the Coronavirus pandemic.
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Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said this on Tuesday at the Lagos House, Marina, during the Fifteenth Update on the Management of Coronavirus in the state.
Sanwo-Olu said that the meeting was necessary, with the state government encouraging schools to adopt e-learning as the state, country and entire world battle the pandemic.
The governor said that the state government, on its part, was working to increase internet connectivity in the state.
”We do not have any written engagement with them (the telcos), but they know that Lagos is their big customer base.
”What we are doing as government is to increase fibre connectivity in Lagos, which will eventually reduce the cost of data.
”We are doing 3,000km fibre grid network in Lagos and that 3,000km will throw fibre into our schools, into our hospitals and to all government’s premises. So, that for us reduces and will crash the cost of internet capability.
”Maybe we need to get the telcos into a room and speak to them. It is about time they also pass on some of these savings to their customers,” he said.
According to him, the state government is going to be expressing clear guidelines, which are not fully ready due to the engagement with the various stakeholders in education sector.
Sanwo-Olu said that schools should engage in online learning, so as to positively engage the students and pupils, as schools remained locked during the COVID-19 pandemic.
”I am happy to inform you that that has started extensively with our higher institutions and they are receiving all the support they need from us as a government.
”We are also seeing increased participation in our secondary school and we encourage other private sectors as well to use as much online capability as a form of intervention in the educational sector.
”This is until when we believe that the statistics and the modelling that we are looking are subsided and we are at a stage where all the schools can open again,” he said.