When Lagos State Commissioner for Education Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo announced plan to organise the state’s education summit, she promised that the gathering would live up to expectation.
She also promised that the summit’s focus would cut across the primary to tertiary education levels and with reference to the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the state government and the 30-year development plan of the state.
T.H.E.M.E.S, represents the six pillars of the state’s strategic development agenda, namely: Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism, as well as Security and Governance”.
But, at the end of the two-day events, stakeholders commended the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu Administration for its visionary reforms of the state education sector and the organisation of a summit described as a success story.
The stakeholders, however, urged the state government to prioritise the public, private partnership towards strengthening its 30-year development plan.
They declared: “What needs to be done is to sustain relevant interventions, upscale investments in teacher training to teach virtually, borrow best practices and tailor the curriculum to complement Nigeria’s industrial needs for optimal development.”
The stakeholders, including panelists, lauded the state government for introducing EKOEXCEL to boost learning and teaching, using cutting-edge technology.
The summit, themed: “Creating a sustainable Fit-For-Purpose Education Model” was held at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island last week.
Its panelists include: Soji Megbowon, STEM teacher and co-founder, Teenprenuer Hub; Lanre Abolaji Oguntoye, science educator, Greensprings School; Femisola Awosika, Executive Director, Robert & John Limited; Omowale David-Ashiru, Managing Director, New Globe Education Services and Amabelle Nwakanma, Director of Programme, LEAP Africa.
They stressed the need for adequate use of technology to improve teaching and boost learning outcomes across all tiers of education, including its primary schools in Lagos State.
According to them, education as an integral part of every society and, like every social institution, had witnessed changes over the years.
To enable more innovative and engaging teaching methods and learning experiences, they said schools are incorporating emerging technologies into the classroom. These include Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Robotics, Live Streaming, Adaptive Learning Algorithms and 3D Printing.
According to them, the state government is not left behind in the use of innovation, imbibing advanced technology to improve teaching and boost learning outcomes across all tiers of education, including its primary schools.
Awosika praised the state government for introducing EKOEXCEL to boost learning and teaching using cutting-edge technology.
Awosika said: “I’ll like to see technology in real-time assessment of the teacher’s work. What’s going on in the classroom? How are the children reacting to lessons? That will come from the kind of artificial technology. And it should be seamless around the learning environment.”
During the summit’s opening, Sanwo-Olu assured that his administration would commit more resources to ensure that out-of-school children in the state returned to school.
According to Sanwo-Olu, “Our administration is passionate about education, and we aim to bring transformation that will make our children better ambassadors of the state and country. We’ll prepare them with the requisite skills for tomorrow’s jobs.”
He said the state’s new school model was an example of the desired Fit-For-Purpose Education System. The governor also spoke on investments his administration had made in the sector, that through EKOEXCEL, with 15,000 teachers being trained.
She reassured the gathering: “Teaching remains the noblest profession and they will always receive the attention of the government. Therefore, our teachers must rededicate themselves to the job of nurturing Nigeria’s future generations.”
Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, who said the Lagos Education Model is one that takes care of education from the foundation through to adult life, added: “The Sanwo-Olu government has done interventions to include a broad vocational linkage, mass adult literacy, the ‘job – initiative Lagos’ and the conventional university. We have also in the last three years renovated 298 school libraries to encourage the reading culture and upgraded the comprehensive colleges to complement those, since education is not limited to the university structure.” Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, acknowledged the governor’s commitment and huge investments, stressing: “What remains is the essential synergy between stakeholders to coordinate efforts to achieve the 30-year transformation plan.”
Finnish Ambassador of Education, Marjanna Sall, shared notable aspects of Finland’s educational model with the gathering.
Sall assured of the readiness to partner the state government.
She said: “The Finnish government values its people and education greatly; it is a constitutional human right. Teachers are required to possess a master’ s degree. The good results are evidence of several decades of improvement; it is hinged on continuous teacher retraining.”
