A recently launched web platform, iTakeActions is set to improve the feedback mechanism between government and citizens in the education sector.
It is owned by Noble Missions, a tech social enterprise based in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.
According to its Founder, Charles Omofomwan, the platform enables citizens to take civic actions towards the advancement of public education in Nigeria.
Mr Omofomwan stated further that citizens get to report infrastructural condition of schools in their communities to the government through it.
The creation of iTakeActions was in response to helping government plan and effectively allocate resources to the education sector.
“With its key features, the platform will allow users to send alerts to governmental officials depicting the conditions of public schools nationwide to enable the government plan and allocate resources more efficiently,” he said.
It would also be useful to draw attention to critical educational issues, and demand for improvement in the education sector by sharing tweets, signing petitions and sending emails among other civic actions.
A unique feature of the platform is that citizens are rewarded for carrying out their civic duties.
In the words of Mr Omofomwan, this is done “with the platform’s digital currency called ActBit Coins which can be used to shop for gift items, events’ tickets and sales discount on the platform.”
The platform also features educative and informative articles about education for all stakeholders.
EduCeleb.com notes that such an initiave is timely. It is instructive that the launching of the platform is coming when Nigeria still falls low in various educational indices.
According to UNESCO, Nigeria ranked 103 out of 113 in the Education for All Development Index (EDI) rating of 2015, scoring 0.714.
This is the same nation where over 65 million of its population cannot read nor write despite finishing primary school.
Issues of unconducive learning environment, insufficient classrooms and learning resources, among others still gravely reflect the system’s decay.
The iTakeActions platform would engender public responsibility, accountablity and trust in citizens. Citizens could access it via www.itakeactions.org.
