Hope rises for 190,000 Edo pupils, as SUBEB trains 5000 teachers on tech-based teaching

Not less than 190,000 pupils in public schools in Edo State are billed to be schooled using technology-based teaching aids and methods, as the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) commences training for 5, 000 teachers as part of the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (Edo-BEST) initiative.

Edo-BEST, launched by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration, is aimed at improving quality at the basic education sub-sector and will see public school teachers using digital devices and aids in teaching.

Addressing journalists in Benin City, the Edo State capital, Special Adviser to the Governor on Basic Education and Acting Chairperson, Edo SUBEB, Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe, noted, “I feel excited that the training has begun for the first of three batches of 5000 primary school teachers.”

Dr. Osa Oviawe said that “By September, we would have successfully trained a total of 7000 teachers and outfitted them with digital devices and smart phones for the headteachers.”

She explained that at the end of the training, “we would have successfully migrated up to 190,000 pupils onto a new teaching pedagogy that is learner-centered, constructivist, nurturing. It is a method that promotes teaching without corporal punishment.”

She added, “By September 2018, 62 per cent of our 1200 public primary schools in Edo state would be enrolled in the Edo-BEST programme. We are also gearing up to begin renovation and construction of over 230 primary schools across the state.”

According to her, “Every ward will be positively impacted. We selected at least one school per ward. All these are happening between April 2018 and September 2018. As you can imagine, it takes strong leadership and political will, huge resources, tremendous man hours to deliver on these impressive statistics.”

The visibly elated Edo SUBEB boss said, “I feel really privileged to be at the forefront of this epochal change, working for Governor Obaseki, who has the courage to execute this vision for a better future for the teeming children in Edo state. We will not relent in the quest to secure better quality education for them.”