Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has flagged off the training of 18,000 primary and junior secondary school teachers across the 33 local government areas of the state.
This was as he kick-started the distribution of instructional training materials and teaching aids to the teachers, stating that the Oyo State Government remained determined to be abreast of developments in the education sector and to meet universal standards.
Governor Makinde, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Barr. Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal, at the event held at the Emmanuel College, Agbowo, Ibadan, on Tuesday, added that the programme was part of the government’s commitment to empowering and equipping the educators, who in turn would impart quality knowledge to pupils and students in primary and secondary schools.
The intervention programme was facilitated by Global Partnership in Education, sponsored by the World Bank in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) and Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
Speaking further, the governor stated that the instructional training materials and the teaching aids would foster the capability of pupils and students to compete nationally and internationally and also equip the teachers with modern teaching tools in line with global educational standards by also adopting up-to-date teaching methods.
He said: “We have come to demonstrate and make people aware that we are moving in tandem with educational development worldwide. We all know this is a digital age and we cannot afford to be analogue. So, we need to keep our teachers abreast of developments in their sector.
“These computer tablets that are being distributed will further enhance the instructional capabilities of our teachers.
“The tablet is well-packaged with several Apps and it is meant for all our teachers in Oyo State; 18,000 in all.
“This training is going to last about two weeks so that no teacher would feign an excuse or pretend not to know how to operate the tablet.
“All subjects are included in the tablets. What you only need to do is to open the tab, go to the subject matter and begin to teach our students.
“It is indeed a teaching aid and would foster capability of our students to compete nationally and internationally because this mode of learning is not reversible. You can’t sit in the classrooms and be taught in analogue form when the age is digital.”
While appreciating all the stakeholders in the educational sector, Governor Makinde enjoined the beneficiaries to complement the efforts of the state government through their commitment and dedication.
“So, I have to appreciate BESDA, SUBEB, TESCOM, the Ministry of Education, UBEC and other members of the educational family that have put heads together for our pupils in Oyo State to take advantage of current and technologically advanced methods of teaching,” he added.
Speaking earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education Intervention, Chief Suraj Abiodun Tiamy, said apart from the distribution of the instructional training materials and teaching aids, there would be four weeks training for teachers in sixteen centres across the state.
He maintained that the exercise would be monitored to ensure that the schemes of work programmed in the teaching aids were in tandem with the curriculum.
He said: “There are two sides to this intervention; we have the distribution of 18,000 tablets to our primary and secondary school teachers across all the local government areas in the state.
“The second is the training for 18,000 teachers across all the LGAs. So, we have 16 centres where we are training them with professors from all our universities in Oyo State.
“Not only that; we have security for these tablets, we also have the report that we will be conducting on a weekly basis to monitor our teachers to make sure they are teaching our students with the curriculum and all the subjects that are in that tablets, which is aligned to what we have in Oyo State.”
In his remarks, Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr Nureni Adeniran, said the distribution of the teaching aids would hasten teaching schemes and equally enable teachers to impart knowledge to the pupils and students in primary and junior secondary schools across all the local governments in the state.
Adeniran added that the educational intervention programme aimed at ensuring that Oyo State teachers are well-equipped in knowledge through digital learning, saying: “This programme is made possible as a result of the programme called Global Partnership in Education, which is being sponsored by the World Bank, in collaboration with UBEC and SUBEB, and it is aimed at ensuring that our teachers get the necessary skill in digital learning.
“We are in a digital age and we are expected to move away from the analogue age. In other words, all these tablets have been built with the lesson plans for some of these subjects in them.
“A teacher should be able to teach without necessarily writing separate lesson notes because we already have prepared lesson notes. So, it will hasten learning.
“Also, the tablet will enable any person to take the tablet and teach any subject of interest. It will also enable our teachers to impart knowledge to the pupils.
“The training is for primary school teachers and some secondary school teachers, which are in the basic level of basic education.
“This is the kind of training that is expected to upgrade the skill of our newly recruited teachers in teaching even to meet up with global standards.
“And it is going on virtually in all the local government areas. We have centres in different schools. It is across the state.”
One of the teachers, Mrs Olufisayo Fajuyigbe, who spoke on behalf of other beneficiaries, thanked Governor Makinde for his efforts in improving the education sector in the state, promising that teachers would continue to support the government and make good use of the instructional training materials and teaching aids to impact meaningfully on the pupils and students in the state.
The event had in attendance the South-West Director, Universal Basic Education Commission, Mr Alabi Baba-Asaju; Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Segun Olayiwola; Commissioner for Establishments and Training, Prof. Adelabu Solihu; Commissioner for Special Duties, Alhaja Faosat Sanni and Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Alhaja Wasilat Adegoke.
Others were the Chairperson, Oyo State Teaching Service Commission, Mrs Olubukola Oladipo; Chairman, Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Barr. Ayodele Adekanmbi; and State Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Comrade Ismael Raji, among others.
