Authorities of the Kwara State Leading Education Achievement and Reform Now (KwaraLEARN) on Tuesday conducted some top government officials in the state on a school visit to assess the impacts of the programmes on teachers, pupils, and learning outcomes in public schools.
Tagged ‘KwaraLEARN Schools Visit’, the monitoring exercise was conducted by the Managing Director KwaraLEARN Mrs Laide Abel, and assisted by Director of School KwaraLEARN Segun Sanusi, among other heads of departments.
Headed by the Chief of Staff to the Governor Prince AbdulKadir Mahe, the government’s team comprised the Chairman Kwara House of Assembly Committee on Education Hon Muhammed Solihu Baba; Commissioner of Education and Human Capital Development Hajia Sa’adatu Moddibo Kawu; Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Rafiu Ajakaye; Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education Mrs Rebecca Bake Olarewaju; Senior Special Assistant on Communication Ibrahim Abdullateef; and Director Quality Assurance for Kwara SUBEB Alhaji Idiagbon Adebimpe.
Among the schools visited were Bishop Smith LGEA Primary School and Ansar-ud-deen LGEA Primary School, both within Ilorin, the state capital.
The education stakeholders, who observed teachers while taking their classes in different subject areas, asked questions from both teachers and pupils where necessary to assess their progress and the impact of the programme.
Prince Mahe said the investments of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in basic education are yielding positive results.
He recalled how the pupils of public basic schools made the state proud by winning laurels at various national and international competitions, saying such represents the high premium the Governor places on the education sector.
“The Governor places much emphasis on education and we can see from the results in the recent time when our students came first both at national and international competitions,” the Chief of staff told reporters on the sideline of the visit.
“This is because His Excellency encourages teachers, and they are reciprocating too. So, we have seen better results and to God be the glory, it shall be best for the state.”
Boriya, for his part, said the introduction of KwaraLEARN is a clear departure from the past because it has brought significant advancement to the education sector in the state.
“Sincerely, what we have seen here, for those of us who know what was in existence before, is that there is advancement in the education sector. KwaraLEARN is a noble programme, and we have come to see that the work is going on,” he said.
“There is improvement on the side of the teachers and the pupils. Teachers are engaged, students are engaged. With this, we are expecting more in the performance of both the teachers and students.”
The lawmaker urged parents and guardians to always encourage their children and wards to resume school from the first day of resumption to avoid missing parts of the lessons designed for a particular academic session.
“The current system in education is that lessons begin on the first day of resumption. We are encouraging our dear parents to release their children and wards from the first day of resumption,” he said.
Moddibo, in her remarks, said KwaraLEARN is a data driven initiative that has checked absenteeism or lateness in the school, adding that both the teachers and pupils are easily monitored with the aid of technology.
“Honestly, a lot has changed. We are all aware that KwaraLEARN is data-driven. Within the comfort of our offices, we know when the children are not in school or when teachers are not in school. In essence, absenteeism of our teachers has reduced considerably,” she said.
MD KwaraLEARN Laide Abel said they are working hard to avoid time wastage in the school calendar, adding that teaching starts on the first day of school resumption.
She thanked the Governor for keying into the programme, which said has continued to transform the lives of children educationally.
“Since we started the programme, we have started teaching the children from the first day because they have a lot to learn. So we do not want to waste any time at all,” she said.
“The first thing I would like to do and I always do is to thank His Excellency, the Governor of Kwara state, for this initiative. And the reason I always thank him is that by this programme he has transformed the lives of two hundred thousand children since the start of this programme.”
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