The Association of Private Educators in Nigeria has said artificial intelligence cannot replace teachers and schools, stressing that human connection remains central to education despite the growing adoption of technology.
The association said that while AI could improve teaching, assessment, curriculum development and other educational activities, teachers remained indispensable in providing emotional support, nurturing students and promoting their overall development.
This view was dominant at a press conference held at Greensprings School, Anthony, Lagos, ahead of the 2026 APEN Education Conference, themed “Human First: Leading with AI,” scheduled for November 2 and 3 at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Those who spoke at the press briefing included the founding Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Dr Olufemi Ogunsanya; current Chairperson of the BoT, Lai Koiki; Acting Chairperson of APEN, Dr Abimbola Ogundere; a member of the association’s Board of Trustees, Olufunke Fowler-Amba; and the Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, Bolanle Adewole.
Leading the argument, Adewole said the growing influence of AI should be seen as an opportunity to improve education rather than a threat to teachers, urging educators to embrace the technology and learn how to use it responsibly.
Adewole maintained that adopting AI must not come at the expense of the human relationships that make teaching and learning meaningful.
She said, “AI has not come to kill education. On the contrary, I believe AI has come to enhance and support education. We want the students and educators to be efficient in what they do. It teaches faster.
“AI for us is human first. For us, we believe that the heart of education is in the human connection. And this is why we know that AI can never replace the teachers.”
Adewole noted that even schools in the United States that had adopted AI-driven learning still retained teachers, although some referred to them as guides.
In such schools that had gone largely AI, she said teachers still had two-hour instructional time with the pupils.
She argued humans had the edge over AI in school settings as they provided the pupils with “emotional connection, supporting students’ mental health and demonstrating patience, kindness and care.”
She, however, noted that AI helped make teaching and learning more efficient, and cautioned against teachers adopting AI negatively.
According to her, AI could help teachers prepare lesson notes, develop curricula, write reports and assess students’ work more quickly, giving them more time to engage directly with learners.
She said the conference would also address teachers’ concerns about AI and encourage them to acquire the skills needed to use the technology effectively.
“I still find a lot of teachers who are feeling very negative about AI,” Adewole said.
She urged teachers not to remain resistant to the technology, but to explore how it could improve their efficiency and create more opportunities to support students’ all-round development.
“We hope that at the end of the conference, people understand how to use AI more efficiently while, at the same time, understanding that they would need to rethink their job but also upgrade themselves in the way that they teach,” Adewole said.
She added that the association was exploring the development of its own AI platform to provide information and educational resources tailored to Nigerian schools and students.
Adewole explained that such a platform would help address the limitations of relying on information designed for other environments, which might not reflect Nigeria’s educational realities.
“When we have our own information within, things that are relevant to our environment, we’re not asking for something and getting what obtains in Europe or other parts of the world that are not significant,” she said.
She cited examples of AI-generated information about conditions such as winter that might be irrelevant to Nigerian students, stressing the need to customise educational content to local needs.
Speaking, the APEN chairperson, Ogundere, said the conference was designed to help parents, teachers, school leaders and owners understand how AI could be integrated into education without undermining the role of people.
She said the two-day event would feature keynote addresses, general sessions and breakout sessions tailored to the different groups within the school ecosystem.
Ogundere said the organisers expected no fewer than 360 delegates and 650 participants from across the country, with registrations received from about 14 or 15 states.
She said the conference would provide participants with practical ideas they could begin implementing in their schools immediately after the event.
“The conversation globally is how, you know, there’s always that, what is happening? Is it AI first, is it human first, is AI taking the place of teachers, is AI taking the place of schools?” she said.
“We know for sure that you cannot take away human beings. We know that AI is here to stay, but we know that human beings will be here, no matter what is going on.”
On her part, Fowler-Amba said the conference would also help educators develop a common approach to using AI in ways that reflect Nigeria’s educational needs and cultural identity.
She said the country’s education system needed to ensure that children acquired skills and values relevant to their immediate environment and future participation in the labour market.
Fowler-Amba added that collaboration among educators was necessary to ensure that adopting technology translated into improvements in teaching and learning.
Founding BoT Chair Ogunsanya said AI could also reduce teachers’ workloads by assisting them with lesson preparation, structuring notes and grading students’ work.
She said the technology was useful not only to students but also to teachers, school founders and other stakeholders across the education sector.
She stressed the importance of equipping teachers with the skills needed to benefit from emerging technologies.
Ogunsanya said, “We’re focusing on students, but it’s also extremely useful for teachers, for the educators themselves. In fact, it helps tremendously to reduce the workload, to reduce being overwhelmed. It will help teachers to prepare, to structure their notes, to structure everything, even to grade the students’ work.
“It’s also very supportive. So we need to appreciate the fact that it’s not only useful for students. It’s useful for the whole educational system. A school’s quality is determined by the quality of the teachers, by the quality of the educators.
“So, it is great if our educators are also learning the skills that are useful for them and can connect with any other educator anywhere in the world through the use of AI. So AI is useful for the whole educational sector, even for the school founders themselves.”
Over the years, she noted that the conference had attracted international interest, with education stakeholders from other countries expressing interest in participating.
Speaking, BoT Chair Koiki said APEN was established to support school founders in managing their institutions effectively, recruiting suitable teachers and providing professional development.
She said the association would continue to promote initiatives that strengthen private education and contribute positively to Nigeria’s education system.