Wducators and other education stakeholders had a field day last Thursday as Edumark opened its 11th Total Support Seminar Exhibition (TOSSE) at 10 degrees Event Centre, Lagos.
The two-day event brought together teachers, booksellers, educational toys and stationery suppliers, ICT solutions provider, school uniform suppliers and many other education value-giving groups.
Convener of the programme, Mrs Yinka Ogunde, said at the opening that TOSSE has gone beyond Nigeria and Africa in its desire to improve the quality of education in Africa.
“TOSSE is something the community has made their own and that shows the power of coming together. TOSSE is about the education sector, not only in Nigeria but also in Africa. By the reason of the world being turned into a global village, we’ve gone beyond the shores of Africa and Nigeria.
“We have delegates here from Cameroon, Guinea Bisau, Kenya, South Africa, even from Finland and various places and that means that we are all bound together by one thing- the desire to improve the quality of education in Africa, and that is why we are in TOSSE”.
Keynote Speaker, Prof Bankole Shodipo said great universities like Harvard, Yale and Princeton all started as faith-based institutions and were supported greatly by the alumni body hence Nigeria should resist attempt to stop faith-based education and be supportive alumni to their schools by means of finances, training or time.
He also said there’s a need for education stakeholders to call on the government to increase the budget for education from 5.4 per cent to 20 per cent.
Bankole also added that children should not be beaten when they ask questions rather should be encouraged.
Also speaking, Dr. Femi Ogunsanya, President, Association of Private Educators in Nigeria (APEN), appealed to educators to give back and also teach pupils the act of giving back.
She said: “We must come together, form advocacy groups to have a voice. We must make sure our voices are heard. Don’t give up, Keep it up. You would grow and succeed.”
The programme featured exhibition by various companies providing products and services for the education sector as well as free and paid training for teachers, school managers and proprietors in various areas of management and learning.
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