Exciting times are here for public schools in Lagos State. The huge investments of the government’s in the sector are beginning to yield concrete dividends.
Since 2019, when it came on board, the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration has recruited over 10,000 teachers across primary and secondary schools. It has equally built over a thousand new classrooms, rehabilitated 322 schools; renovated and digitised 340 public school libraries; and added 2,000 new bed spaces to the boarding schools. It has also added recreational facilities like football pitches, racetracks and multipurpose courts in some schools to ensure students have total development, while others will commence soon.
The government also delivered, in Vetland Junior School, Agege, the pilot project in its series of technology-driven schools, in which 16 teaching is now done with the aid of interactive screens and tablets for both students and teachers. This is now being replicated in other education districts.
Through the EKO Digital Skills Initiative, 321,000 pupils in primary and secondary schools have been trained in ICT programmes such as computer basics, use of internet and cloud services among others.
The Eko Excel Initiative (“Leave No Child Behind”), which was launched in 2020 and managed by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), has trained over 18,000 teachers and equipped them with teaching tablets and the skills needed to provide high-quality education. This is in addition to equipping over 500,000 pupils with personal e-learning devices and textbooks.
Eko-Excel, an acronym for “Excellence in Child Education and Learning”, which was rolled out in phases, was designed to help head-teachers and students embrace digital teaching, using tablets and updated curriculum in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 4.
The programme has equipped teachers with skills to deliver value, empower pupils with requisite knowledge to improve education and help in sustaining the state’s image as a leading knowledge driven city-state.
Apart from its technological advantage, the initiative provides a multi-dimensional approach to learning, which includes character moulding of pupils from their formative stage. Thus, Character Boards are placed in all public schools to display names of well-behaved and outstanding pupils to engender progressive competition.
In order to inspire and motivate more public school teachers to fully embrace the culture of diligence, creativity and excellence, the government has instituted a new reward system for excellence in teaching and dedication for the teachers.
In 2022, 13 outstanding teachers, selected across the state’s six Education Districts were gifted brand new cars for their passion and deployment of modern techniques to teach pupils. The recipients were part of the finalists nominated for the Year 2021 Teachers’ Merit Award by the screening committee led by the chairperson of Association of Private Educators in Nigeria, Mrs. Lai Koiki.
The government is also emphasizing vocational education as a means of stemming attrition. Subjects covered include Agriculture, Technology, Beauty and Fashion as well as Building and Media.
The various efforts aimed at improving the standard of education across the state’s public primary and secondary schools have led to a significant improvement in the students pass rate in Mathematics and English Language in external examinations. For instance, performance of the state’s students in WASSCE/GCE significantly improved from 38.79% in 2020 to over 81% in 2021 with a minimum of five credits including Mathematics and English. The momentum has since been sustained.
With a view to giving more students access to tertiary education, the state now has two new public-owned universities (Lagos State University of Science and Technology and Lagos State University of Education). This is in addition to the Lagos State University (LASU). These new institutions have since taken off and are in full operation.
It must be stressed that the construction of an 8,272 bed space hostel at LASU is nearing completion. Upon completion, it will make LASU fully residential.
In the last four and a half years, the annual budget for the state Ministry of Education has been bigger than the total budget of some states in the country.
The education ministry got N133.5 billion in 2020, N146.9 billion in 2021 and N173.5 billion in 2022. The progression in budgetary allocation to the sector has been consistent.
Critical investment in the sector is aimed at ensuring students in the public schools receive quality education in a conducive and friendly environment.
In order to sustain the pace of development in the sector, the government has unveiled a set of technology-driven modular learning spaces, which introduces an innovation to the design of a modern classroom. The nine-classroom block was built to replace decrepit concrete structures in Vetland Junior Grammar School, a government-owned Model College in Agege Local Government Area.
The interactive modular classrooms were improvised, using standardised reusable freight compartments, known as containers.
Each of the classroom compartments is adequately insulated to give comfort and create a conducive ambience for hybrid learning for students.
The project is completed with three laboratories and four staff rooms – all made from containers. There are also recreational facilities, including a five-aside football pitch, a multi-purpose-built court, which can be used for a variety of games, such as volleyball, long tennis, badminton, and basketball.
The classrooms and their ancillary facilities have their dedicated energy source, off grid; they are powered by solar panels, which guarantee constant power supply to enable teaching and learning.
The IT-enabled modular interactive classrooms would make a lasting impact in the state’s effort to make basic education accessible.
The containerised structures were raised on high-density rafts carefully calculated to hold both live and dead loads.
The floors were made of terrazzo material for durability, while 30 convenience facilities were fitted in the academic area with two composite water-free toilets built for visitors.
The rebuilt school also has a water system fitted with a filtration compartment to deliver potable water to the pupils.
The upgrade of the Model College is part of the strategic interventions initiated in the public school system, which have led to the rehabilitation and modernisation of over 200 public schools.
The government has also improved security in the public schools by installing watchtowers, perimeter fences, panic bells and floodlights. It has equally prioritised the comfort of boarding students through the provision of beddings and other necessary items.
In another development, pioneer students of the new comprehensive school model have received e-Learning Mobile Tablets. The initiative, which has thus far benefitted 750 students from 12 pilot schools, is to enhance the learning of various vocational skills by beneficiaries.
Each teacher and school administrator also received mobile devices that have been preloaded with curriculum content relevant.
With his focus on educating the youth to secure the state’s future, Sanwo-Olu has demonstrated a firm commitment to Nelson Mandela’s assertion that education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world.
- Ogunbiyi is Director (Features), Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
