Ahead of its 2021 awards for teachers in various prize categories, Inoyo Toro Foundation has successfully conducted screening tests for over 200 teachers in Akwa Ibom State.

The screening tests were conducted over the weekend using a customized software solution, ‘ITF Online Exams’, locally developed by the International Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Research (ICEESR), University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Conducted at Ibom e-Library, Uyo for applicants in various subject areas, the 2021 screening tests represented a milestone in Inoyo Toro Foundation’s fourteen years of operations in Akwa Ibom State, as it signaled the first successful migration from Paper Based Testing (PBT) to Computer Based Testing (CBT).

Speaking on the development, the Chairman, Inoyo Toro Foundation Award Committee, Dr. Enobong Joshua expressed satisfaction and spoke of the advantages the CBT over the paper-based system. He particularly celebrated the ICEESR for the brilliant innovation successfully deployed, adding that the choice of a locally developed solution was deliberate.

“Today is a great day in our Foundation and in the evolution of this Foundation. We are running the CBT today for the first time, migrating from the paperwork we used to have. It brings a lot of advantages as it makes the work faster and easier for us as administrators… I give God the praise for enabling us to get to this point…We trust that we would continue with it and more teachers would get exposed to ICT.

Dr. Joshua added, “It’s also important to note that we didn’t go elsewhere to look for the software to use but we acquired locally developed software. Young men and women worked hard over the months to develop the software through the courtesy of International Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Research (ICEESR) at the University of Uyo.”

On her part, the Director, ICEESR who doubles as the ITF Online Exams Project Team Lead, Dr. Edu Inam enumerated the basic features of the software and commended the Advisor, ITF, Mr. Udom Inoyo; the Chairman of the ITF Award Committee, Dr. Enobong Joshua; the Chairperson, ITF, Mrs. Ntekpe Inoyo; the Program Manager, Mrs. Imo Ekong-Bassey and all the board members for giving her team the opportunity.

“We are really grateful to the Foundation for giving us the opportunity to demonstrate our ability and capability. The Foundation had the option of going for a ready-made software program that is already in the market. If they had gone that route, they would have been empowering foreign developers. Rather, they decided to look for local solutions and they believed the researchers at ICEESR would be able to deliver a custom-made, fit-for-purpose software program and today that product which we have christened ITF Online has successfully been used for the screening exercise for the 2021 teachers’ excellence award. This is a major milestone and we are really excited… Through this, the Foundation has been able to empower local developers, like it empowers other professionals.

“Let me say a little about this our product, ITF Online. This product can compete favorably with all the other ready-made software programs in the market, in terms of security, simplicity in usage and all objectives that we set out to achieve. First, prospective candidates go online and submit their applications. It’s very easy and simple, with the basic knowledge of ICT, you can complete and submit your application online. And then, the program managers are able to look at the applications and screen and select the ones fit to be invited for the screening exercise. The people would receive their passwords in their phones. The program officers are able to schedule the exams. The examiners on the other hand, are able at their own comfort to populate the question bank; the software has a question bank. On the day of the exams, seamlessly the prospective candidates take the tests and see their scores upon submission…” Dr. Inam explained.

In their separate remarks after the screening tests, some of the teachers expressed appreciation to the Foundation for staying consistent over the years in anchoring the excellence award program for secondary school teachers in the state and particularly commended the adoption of CBT which, they said, made it possible for candidates to see their scores immediately after the examination, thereby taking away the anxiety associated with waiting for results.

Inoyo Toro Foundation is an education interventionist NGO committed to the promotion of education through teachers’ awards, students’ mentorship and school infrastructure intervention and has so far spent over N400M to reward over 235 teachers and 3 principals, to train over 3,500 teachers, to mentor over 5,040 students, and to positively impact over 90 schools in Akwa Ibom State.