By Lukman Olabiyi, Lagos
Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) will showcase the success recorded so far with EKOEXCEL, an education reform program at the quarterly meeting of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) management with executive chairpersons of SUBEB that will hold in Benin City, Edo State, between November 15-18.
EKOEXCEL (Excellence in Child Education and Learning), was initiated by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2019, as part of his THEMES agenda to provide quality education to both the rich and the poor across the state and upskill teachers leveraging cutting-edge technology.
All 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will participate at the UBEC meeting, with the theme: “Enhancing Access, Equity and Standards in Basic Education through Technology-driven Initiatives”.
The meeting aims to draw attention to the growing importance of an integrated system-wide approach using teacher coaching and technology to improve pupils’ learning outcomes at scale.
Commenting on Lagos’ participation at the meeting, LASUBEB Executive Chairman, Wahab Alawiye-King said that the essence of the quarterly meeting is to come up with a collaborative approach geared towards ensuring that every child has unfettered access to education
According to him:” the programme which is being executed in partnership with Bridge, now rebranded as New Globe as the technical partner, also equips teachers with skills to deliver value and empower pupils with the requisite knowledge to improve education and help sustain the growth of Lagos State as a leading knowledge-driven city and economy in the world.
“EXOEXCEL has recorded remarkable achievements we are extremely proud of within a short period, and this meeting will help us further retool it for maximum efficiency during the sessions. We are also certain that states that don’t have such will borrow a leaf from us to revolutionise their public schools to become competitive and at par with private schools”.
LASUBEB’s permanent board member and oversight chair of EKOEXCEL, Bayo Adefuye also expressed hopes for the meeting, adding that the intervention would become more popular and adopted.
“Lagos wants to be an exemplar and trailblazer, and though Edo State started first, we are making appreciable progress that others can learn from too,” he said.
He added that EKOEXCEL has dramatically accelerated student literacy and numeracy performances in two short years, with significant differences between student performances in EKOEXCEL schools and their peers in traditional schools.
The international community has also applauded the successes of the EKOEXCEL programme as it received an invitation last September to participate and represent Nigeria at the 2021 edition of the Mobiles for Education Alliance Symposium.