Kwara State Government will on May 16 kick-start its data-driven Education Transformation Project (KwaraLEARN) across 365 primary schools, Chairman Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Prof Shehu Adaramaja has said.
Adaramaja, who made this known in Ilorin at a news briefing, said the programme would begin across 365 primary schools in Baruten, Offa, Ilorin East and Ilorin West local governments.
The KwaraLEARN intervention by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration is a public education transformation programme to improve teaching and learning, using innovative technology, data-driven platforms, high-quality learning materials, effective training and continuous coaching and support for teachers and school administrators.
“KwaraLEARN could not have come at a better time, given the challenges education is facing in Nigeria as captured by a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report delivered during a recent programme,” he said.
“Starting with governance, Kwara State Ministry of Education, KwaraSUBEB and our technical partner, NewGlobe, developed a project communication and coordination plan to guide the management of the programme.
“Stakeholder sensitisation campaigns have also happened in the four pilot local governments, with meetings held with traditional rulers, education trade union representatives and education secretaries, among others. Today, KwaraLEARN has completed academic field studies in randomly selected schools to learn about teachers’ English fluency and proficiency, pupil oral reading fluency and foundational numeracy,” Adaramaja added.
He said the process employed by KwaraLEARN had been systematic and scientific to achieve the desired learning outcome.
Adaramaja said the decision to start the project was sequel to the critical achievements the state had earlier recorded in academics, governance, stakeholder engagements, operations, school inspection, technology, job creation, leadership and development.
On the selection of the four local governments for the pilot scheme of KwaraLEARN, Adaramaja said the local governments were randomly picked due to population from the rural and urban centres to check the outcome before a statewide operation.
The SUBEB chairman noted that KwaraLEARN’s key achievements in operations and technology included the delivery of 4,329 teacher tablets and smartphones; procurement of 250 blackboards; hiring of IT operation teams, set up of teacher tablets and validation of tech applications in schools.
On the first phase of induction training, which took place at Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, the chairman said 1,813 teachers and headteachers from across 227 schools in Baruten and Ilorin West local governments had participated, adding that the second phase would start on May 5 with prospective participants from Ilorin East and Offa local governments.
”The induction training, which is a pivotal element of KwaraLEARN, has concluded its first wave. Since its commencement on April 19 at Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, 1,813 teachers and headteachers from across 227 schools in Baruten and Ilorin West local governments have participated, while the second wave of the induction training will start on May 5, and is expected to have over 1,500 participants from Offa and Ilorin East local governments
”Our technical partner, NewGlobe, has done a tremendous job in ensuring that participants are on the right teaching trajectory by deploying experienced personnel and facilities such as teachers’ smartphones, tablets and applications for the exercise.
“It is worthy of note that the teachers have shown great enthusiasm and a keen interest in becoming a better version of themselves during the training.”
Adaramaja said the programme was also creating a long socio-economic value chain that benefited Kwarans through job opportunities.
“For example, KwaraLEARN has created jobs by hiring school inspection associates and workers to train, support, coach and mentor the headteachers and teachers. We have onboarded schools’ workers to get them prepared and build their capacity for the fieldwork. Forty-three job offers have been made, while 38 full-time workers have been hired so far. We are training 3,500 teachers drawn from across the state, who will implement this programme beginning in May.
“The essence of this programme – and the preparations that have gone into the pre-launch activities – is to ensure that Kwara State will not be one of the states where primary school pupils have poor learning outcomes. The whole agenda is to ensure that we give every Kwara child a solid foundation, and that regardless of a child’s birth location or the income level of their parents, or their level of literacy, all children in Kwara State can achieve their full potential and compete favourably with their peers across Nigeria and the world.
“KwaraLEARN will demonstrate that, with the right innovation, training, materials and support, government schools can deliver radically better learning outcomes for children. With the right investments so far made and more to be committed, this success can and will be seen in a very short number of years, so that this generation of children will have the potential to transform the state.”