In Nigeria, using the
2015/2016 education statistics as published by The Federal Ministry of
Education http://education.gov.ng/nigeria-digest-of-education-statistics/
we have the total of 96,901 primary schools both public and private.
Among these 676 is for
the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. Looking at other indicator, it’s
predicted that our population is about 200 million with an Internet Penetration
Rate (IPR) of about 61%, so it means about 126 million people are online. Well,
I am still pondering on why Nigeria just has only about 27 million users on
Facebook? OK, I guess the rest should be on Instagram e.t.c
Anyways, G Suite for
Education is a suite of tools designed to empower educators and students as
they learn and innovate together. It supports teaching, learning and working
from anywhere with video capabilities that can support virtual classrooms and
meetings. According to Google “G Suite for Education is and will remain free
for schools”, so I am here to walk you through how you can take advantage of
it.
Click here to read more
https://edu.google.com/products/gsuite-for-education/
The National
Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) is the apex association
of private school owners in Nigeria. NAPPS was created to promote the welfare
and interaction of proprietors of private schools and the advancement of
quality educational services in the country.
Mrs. Olusola Bankole -
President, NAPPS FCT Abuja Chapter is actually a techy too! She is an advocate
of technology, and her school with a couple of other schools in the capital has
been on the G Suite for Education for over 5 years thereabout or even more.
To qualify for G Suite for Education according to
Google https://support.google.com/a/answer/134628?hl=en
K–12 schools,
higher-education institutions, and homeschool co-ops are eligible for G Suite
for Education if they meet certain criteria. The institution applying for G
Suite for Education must submit the application.
K–12 and higher
institutions must:
(a) Have verified
not-for-profit status.
(b) Be a government-recognized, formally-accredited
educational institution delivering nationally or internationally-approved
certifications at primary, secondary, or third level.
Over the years, I have
noticed major gaps that have caught up with so many schools. This is not any
fault of theirs but perhaps, mistakes made by some of our techies.
For example:
The Second Level
Domain (SLD)
.edu.ng - Higher and
further education and research institution
.sch.ng - Other
Academic institutions
Many schools web
address was registered as a Top Level Domain (TLD) .com
For example www.schoolabc.com and .com as we all know
are for “commercial entities and purposes”.
A guide to NIRA Domain Name Policy https://www.nira.org.ng/images/Policies/NIRA_Domain_Names_Policy.pdf
So, the irony of the
story is that a great number of schools are in this category, and as you all know
they have been paying for the G Suite for Business packages – I mean for years
(for those that can afford it). And this payment has mis-informed and scared
other schools from on-boarding.
According to this blog https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/meet-for-edu/
“In order to support
ongoing institutional needs, we've extended access to premium Meet features at
no cost for all G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education
users until September 30, 2020. This means you can have meetings for up to 250
participants per call, live streams for up to 100,000 viewers within your
domain, and record meetings and save them to Google Drive.”
Many schools are
currently missing out on that.
This is one of the
major problems that have hindered the G Suite for Education Approving Team to
comprehend – I personally have reflected on it.
“How can you have the
TLD .com and tell me that you are a school or an institution or better-still,
you are not-for-profit?” It does not fit!
And honestly, this is
the dilemma and road blocks that many schools have met along the way. So, I
want to advise and recommend that all interested schools to go through their
respective associations either NAPPS or AMIS as the case may be, for the proper
guideline, and let’s correct these errors, it’s to your advantage in the long
run.
Don’t worry too much,
you are not losing your .com domains immediately but the association will guide
and register the correct .sch.ng domain for your school.
We will then do a redirection
from the registered domain to the current domain you are familiar with already,
but eventually you will have to move to the correct and appropriate URL for order,
uniformity and standardization. I believe it’s the right thing to do.
I hope this was
informative.
Thank you.
Aderogba Otunla
#AderogbaOtunla
#GBGAbuja #NAPPS #AMIS
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