4,704 Teachers Graduate from MTN SAIL Fellowship as Nigeria Deepens Push for Digital Education

From left:Pastor Simon Aranonu, Director, MTN Foundation; Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin, Secretary to the State Government; Feyisola Abiru, Co-Founder, SAIL Foundation; Odunayo Sanya, Executive Director, MTN Foundation and Hon. Jamiu Alli-Balogun, Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, during the MTN SAIL Teachers Fellowship Graduation Ceremony held at MTN Rooftop, Ikoyi.

A total of 4,704 public secondary school teachers have graduated from the 16-week MTN SAIL Teachers’ Fellowship Programme, gaining new digital skills and teaching approaches designed to improve learning outcomes in Nigerian classrooms.

The fellowship equipped participating teachers with training in digital literacy, innovative teaching methods, inquiry-based learning and emerging technologies, including the use of artificial intelligence and other digital tools to support classroom instruction.

The graduation comes amid growing efforts to address persistent challenges in Nigeria’s education sector, where strengthening teacher capacity is increasingly seen as critical to improving the quality of learning.

In April 2025, the World Bank approved financing for the HOPE-EDU programme, which is expected to reach 29 million children, 500,000 public primary school teachers and more than 65,000 public primary schools across Nigeria.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin, stressed the importance of ensuring that teachers transfer the knowledge and skills acquired through the fellowship to their students and colleagues.

“Your participation in this programme goes beyond personal development. It presents you with an opportunity to transfer the knowledge, digital skills, and contemporary teaching methods acquired to young children and fellow educators, thereby multiplying the impact of this initiative across our schools and communities,” she said.

The emphasis on multiplying the impact of the training is central to the philosophy behind the fellowship.

Co-founder of SAIL Empowerment Foundation, Feyisola Abiru, said the initiative was established on the understanding that teachers remain a critical driver of educational transformation.

“When SAIL started the fellowship in 2023, we began with a simple observation: equip the teacher, and the possibilities are endless. Leave the teacher unsupported, and no amount of investment will transform education. The real achievement is what happens in the classroom, so take what you have learned, practise it, and use it to impact lives,” Abiru said.

Building a Digitally Skilled Teaching Workforce

The programme also reflects the MTN Foundation’s broader focus on capacity development as a pathway to sustainable social impact.

Speaking at the ceremony, Executive Director of MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, said the Foundation’s investment in the fellowship was driven by the belief that strengthening teachers would have a lasting impact on the education system.

“For us at MTN Foundation, our approach is centred on capacity building, health and empowerment. We believe in long-term investment because sustainable impact goes beyond individual projects. Through the Teachers’ Fellowship, we are strengthening the quality of education across Nigeria. We have invested over ₦200 million in the programme because we believe investing in teachers is an investment in the future,” Sanya said.

For participating teachers, the training has already begun to influence classroom practices.

Jemina Idris Bakari, a Basic Science teacher at Government Day Secondary School, Central Jalingo, and a valedictorian of the programme, described the experience as both a personal achievement and a responsibility to her students and wider community.

“I feel honoured and grateful because I see it as not only my personal achievement, but a responsibility for me to go back to my school, make use of what we have learnt, and bring positive change to my school and community,” she said.

Bakari said the fellowship had strengthened her use of inquiry-based learning, which she said had helped increase student engagement. She also highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in helping her generate lesson ideas and simplify complex concepts for students.

Support Beyond the Classroom

The programme also provided additional support to outstanding participants. Its valedictorians received laptops, 5G internet devices and three months of data sponsorship to enable them to continue applying digital tools in their teaching.

Since its launch, the MTN SAIL Teachers’ Fellowship has trained 8,702 teachers across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The organisers say the continued expansion of the fellowship is aimed at strengthening teacher capacity and supporting the emergence of a more digitally equipped education workforce capable of adapting to changing demands in teaching and learning.

As Nigeria continues to invest in education reform, initiatives focused on teachers are increasingly placing digital skills, innovative pedagogy and practical classroom application at the centre of efforts to improve educational outcomes.