The Executive Chairman of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (Edo SUBEB), Ozavize Salami has said reforms in the state’s basic education sector by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration are improving learning outcomes and preparing children in the state for global competitiveness.
Speaking to journalists in Benin City, the Edo State capital, the Edo SUBEB chair said the government has prioritised investment in the education sector with a focus on basic education to accelerate foundational literacy and numeracy and adequately equip every child in the state for the future.
She said, “When this administration came in 2017, we noticed that the education sector was in need of urgent revamp. In a nutshell, we noticed that children were significantly underperforming academically, teachers needed more encouragement and support with modern tools and techniques, schools were not being properly managed; there was no community ownership, the government did not have the required data needed to make critical decisions, policies, and support interventions.
“The government then introduced the EdoBEST programme with a focus on using the latest technology and pedagogies in ensuring improved learning outcomes. The state has trained over 16,000 teachers from 2017 till date and has inducted all primary and junior secondary schools in the state into the EdoBEST programme. To this end, the state operates three categories of programmes; Primary, Progressive and JSS. The progressive model captures schools in extremely hard-to-reach areas and riverine communities.
“In addition, 3,000 EdoSTAR fellows were recruited with a special focus on hard-to-reach communities to deepen the learning outcomes in rural areas. This has also helped to improve ownership in the schools’ host communities.”
Salami further noted, “Our ultimate goal is to domesticate EdoBEST. Also, we aim to consistently achieve, at the minimum, 95 percent attendance of teachers, head teachers and pupils/students in all our schools. While I know we are on the right path to achieving this, overall success for us will be not just the implementation of an education transformation throughout the entire educational system, from basic education to senior schools, technical colleges and tertiary institutions, but the turnover from implementation and provision of highly-skilled children that can compete in the global workforce.”
