A total of 4,704 public secondary school teachers have completed the 16-week MTN SAIL Teachers’ Fellowship Programme, aimed at strengthening their digital skills and equipping them with new approaches to teaching and learning. The teachers received training in digital literacy, innovative teaching methods, inquiry-based learning, and emerging technologies for use in the classroom.
The graduation comes as Nigeria steps up efforts to address persistent gaps in the quality of education, with teacher capacity emerging as a critical part of the response. In April 2025, the World Bank approved financing for the HOPE-EDU programme, which is expected to benefit 29 million children, 500,000 public primary school teachers, and more than 65,000 public primary schools across the country.
At the graduation ceremony, the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin, also underscored the importance of building teachers’ capacity, urging the graduates to share the knowledge and skills they had gained with their students and fellow educators. “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 call for teachers to extend the knowledge gained through the fellowship reflects the thinking behind the programme. Co-founder of SAIL Empowerment Foundation, Feyisola Abiru, said the fellowship was built on the recognition that teachers are central to improving educational outcomes. “ 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.”
The emphasis on equipping teachers also forms part of MTN Foundation’s approach to its social investment programmes. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Executive Director Odunayo Sanya said the Foundation’s investment in the fellowship reflects its focus on building sustainable impact through capacity development. “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.”
For the teachers, the value of the training is already beginning to show in how they approach learning and teaching in their classrooms. Jemina Idris Bakari, a Basic Science teacher at Government Day Secondary School, Central Jalingo, and a valedictorian of the programme, said the experience had given her both new skills and a stronger sense of responsibility to her students and 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 added that inquiry-based learning had improved student engagement, while AI had helped her develop lesson ideas and simplify abstract concepts.
The programme also extended support to its valedictorians beyond the training, with outstanding teachers receiving laptops, 5G internet devices and three months of data sponsorship to support their continued use of digital tools.
With 8,702 teachers trained across the 36 states and the FCT since its inception, the MTN SAIL Teachers’ Fellowship continues to strengthen teacher capacity and support the development of a more digitally equipped education workforce.