By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to education and technology, saying the government will ensure that the state remains the reference point for impactful, inclusive and innovative education.
Speaking at the 2021 annual Governor’s Lecture of the Lagos State University (LASU) Alumni Association themed “Educational leadership and technology as viable options for economic recovery and nationhood: The experience of Lagos State,”  Sanwo-Olu said education and technology would continue to occupy prime positions in his government because they are critical to the execution of his administration’s THEMES agenda.
 
“Our administration understands the key role education and technology play in transforming the society, which explains why we made education one of the major pillars of our T.H.E.M.E.S Development Agenda (Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Economy, Entertainment and Tourism and Governance and Security)” he said.
 
Sanwo-Olu said his administration through the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board’s (LASUBEB) EKOEXCEL had already stepped up i public awareness campaign to further reduce number out of school children in the state ahead of the new school term in January 2022 and for continuous pursuit of excellence.
He stated that EKOEXCEL was launched in 2019 to provide quality education to both the rich and the poor and upskill teachers leveraging technology. 
“So far, over 12,000 head teachers and teachers have been moved from analogue to digital teaching, using tablets and updated curriculum. 
” Over 14,000 primary school teachers from 1,009 public primary schools have been captured under the scheme.
“The education reform programme has also recorded remarkable gains in enhancing the teacher-pupil interaction experience through technology (eLearning) in Lagos State primary schools.
” The transformational intervention has also boosted uniformity and strict adherence to the curriculum with teachers’ tablets preloaded with lessons and content that can be effectively monitored for standardisation across all of Lagos’ 1,009 public primary schools.To further consolidate the intervention’s achievements while striving for more academic excellence.
“Besides, EKOEXCEL has commenced a public awareness campaign online and physically.The campaign’s objectives include driving enrolment and reducing the number of out of school children in alignment with the government’s ‘Leave No Child Behind Policy’ and boosting academic excellence from a foundational level in Lagos public schools.The others include engaging parents and communities on the need and importance of education and connecting citizens to the government’s economic growth agenda through the transformation of education.The program and its goals are being showcased on billboards, street lamp banners, radio jingles, TV interviews and commercials as well as social media engagements with reputable influencers.This latest public awareness campaign follows the recent enrollment exercises across 10 local government and local council development areas that involved local community leaders and influencers, including Nollywood celebrities.Commenting on the awareness campaign”, he said.
Also  LASUBEB’s Executive Chairman, Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King said it was in fulfilment of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s promise of quality education to all Lagos pupils as spelt out in his THEMES agenda.
He said, “Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is very passionate about basic education and his dream is to reduce the number of out-of-school children to the minimum while deploying the latest technology for instruction in schools. We cannot afford to fail in the task he has entrusted into our care, hence our effort to make Lagosians know more about EKOEXCEL and its benefits.”Alawiye-King said.
He added that Governor Sanwo-Olu is very passionate about improving the quality of instruction in public schools and using education to drive the state’s transformation efforts given the importance of the knowledge economy.
Also commenting, Permanent Board Member of LASUBEB and oversight chair of the EKOEXCEL programme,  Adebayo Adefuye stressed the need to convince parents and guardians that were yet to enrol their children in government schools to do so as they are assured of quality instruction.
“Our public schools in Lagos are now at par with their private counterparts, so there’s no need to keep children at home while looking for money to pay their fees in private schools. Public schools, particularly those in EKOEXCEL have e-learning devices so parents, guardians, please enrol your children in our schools. You won’t regret it. Education is the future and the present administration recognises that, hence the massive investments in it,” Adefuye said.