Mrs. Foluke Tayo teaches Yoruba Language at Taoheed Secondary School, Ilorin, Kwara State. As she entered the special resource centre, her pupils stood up chorusing, "Good afternoon ma," in unison.

 "Good afternoon," she responded, thereafter urging them to sit down.

 Our correspondent wondered what a Yoruba teacher could be doing in a resource centre where audio-visual facilities, including television sets, DVD recorder, satellite dish and decoder are being deployed in teaching and learning in mathematics and sciences.

 But Tayo, who had just completed training on how to use education bouquet on cable television to teach pupils, displayed her creativity when she used the facility to teach her pupils the modern way of transport in Yoruba language.

 Turning on the facility, Tayo went to a transport channel, and just asked the pupils to watch.

 After watching the clip, which showed an aircraft taking off, a car, train, ship and some trucks, she asked the children what they saw. And one after the other, they answered. Satisfied with their responses, she started the day's lesson.

 After the lesson, she told our correspondent that she resorted to the use of the centre when she noticed her pupils' improvement in other subjects, such as mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics.

 "Pupils tend to understand what they see better and that is why I go the extra mile to look for audio-visual materials to teach them," she said.

 Officials of the MultiChoice Nigeria that donated the centre to the school and over 200 others last year were surprised at her ingenuity.

 "I'm so excited at this. I don't know that this could be used to teach our local language. This is creativity at its best and this is what we intend to achieve. We want to revolutionise teaching and learning in the country," Head of Corporate Communications, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. Segun Fayose, said.

 MultiChoice had partnered SchoolNet and all the 36 states' ministries of education and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to set up the MultiChoice Resource Centre to enhance teaching and learning in schools across the country.

 So far, over 200 centres have been established in schools across 21 states of the federation, while another 40 centres are expected to be provided this year.

 However, the Yoruba teacher is not the only one that has mastered how to use the centre to teach. A mathematics teacher at Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, Mr. Hammed Olodo, said the use of the centre to teach had led to improvement inhis pupils in mathematics.

 "Before, most of the pupils feared mathematics; but since I have been using this audio-visual internet-powered centre to teach them, there has been great improvement.

 "In the last West African Senior School Certificate Examination, I had 100 per cent performance in Further Mathematics and 77 per cent in mathematics. I was encouraged to use the centre after I used it to teach them a topic on measurement

 "In fact, this centre has made my job easier," he said.

 Also, the Head, Computer Science Department, Government Secondary School, Ilorin, Mrs. Ayinla Misturat, expressed similar sentiments, adding that though there were challenges of additional costs of servicing the generator, the advantages of the centres far outweigh the cost.

 Most of the pupils who spoke with our correspondent, including Isah Saidu, Bukola Marcus, Sodiq Monsurat and Cocu Afari, a Ghanaian schooling in Nigeria, confirmed that the centre had helped them to understand difficult subjects such as mathematics, biology, chemistry and geography better.

 Saidu said, "The best mark I have ever had in Chemistry was 49, but since our teacher started teaching us with audio-visual teaching facilities in the centre, the lowest mark I have had was 69."

 But 14-year-old Monsurat said the first day the maths teacher took her to the centre early last year, she thought they wanted to watch a film on African Magic – a cable TV station. "But now I know better that television is not just about film and football. It has contributed a great deal to my knowledge," she said.

 Also, the principals, such as Mr. Muhydeen Mohammed (Government Junior Secondary School); Hajia Munirat Ayinla (Queen Elizabeth Secondary School)and Mrs. Khadijat Jimoh of Taoheed Secondary School, applauded MultiChoice for the provision of the centre.

 They, however, called on the state government to complement the donor's efforts by equipping all schools with similar facilities.

 Fayose expressed happiness that his company's initiative had impacted on teaching and learning positively in schools, adding that 40 of such centres would be built in 40 other schools this year.

 "From the testimonies of the pupils, the centre has made it possible for them to better understand their lessons through the imagery of sound, while the teachers have also testified that the centre has made teaching a more worthwhile and enjoyable experience.

 "We will continue to invest in the project and ensure we systematically fast-track the roll-out for more schools, to further raise the standard of education in the country."

 Reports from other schools in states across the country where such centres have been set up revealed that the centres have been having a positive impact on teaching and learning in subjects once considered difficult by the pupils.