Sanwo-Olu’svisioninbuildingeducation infrastructure

January 23 and 24 were landmarks in the annals of Lagos State under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu They were the days President Muhammadu Buhari visited the state to inaugurate several transformational infrastructure projects for the people’s benefit The Government itself tagged the occasion ‘Lagos Projects Festival’

And a festival it was, with the inauguration of the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Imota Rice Mill, the first phase of the Blue Rail Line and the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History meant to, among other things, help in the propagation of Yoruba culture within and outside Nigeria

Since becoming the helmsman in 2019, Governor Sanwo-Olu has not relented in upgrading the state’s infrastructure, health and education while not neglecting other pillars of his THEMES agenda Though President Buhari didn’t commission any education project during his visit, the current administration has acquitted itself creditably in that sector such that there was no need to showcase its impressive achievements This is more so as before the ‘Lagos Projects Festival’, Governor Sanwo-Olu had himself given his scorecard in education during an appearance on a popular TV programme.

Speaking during the programme, the Governor reminded one of the inimitable Chinua Achebe’s proverb about the lizard that jumped down safely from the highest Iroko tree and commended itself, even as others refused to acknowledge its feat But Mr Sanwo-Olu’s achievements in education that he highlighted were not lip service, they are facts based

“Year after year, we’ve deliberately increased our budget in education because we believe that’s one area we need to show real sustainability Last year, we did between 11 and 12 percent of our total budget To date, in infrastructure, we have built over 1047 new classrooms in less than four years

We have touched about 197 new school projects and we’ve touched close to a thousand different things in schools

We’ve added about 200,000 new chairs and benches We’ve done about 2,000 new bed spaces in boarding schools

We’ve also intervened in all the vocational schools and the likes that we have But for me, the interesting one is what we have done with primary schools which is where education truly should start.

This is where EKOEXCEL starts from We’ve given tablets to teachers in primary schools to enable them to have the same learning curriculum For teachers who are not coming, we can remotely monitor them and see who is teaching what And the quality of teaching across primary schools, we’ve made them almost the same It doesn’t matter what part of the state you are in We have seen growth in the number of pupils coming back to our primary school from private schools and elsewhere ”

The EKOEXCEL programme was introduced in 2019, to transform Early Childhood Care and Development and Primary education in all Lagos State government schools, bringing 21st Century education that is child-centred and enabled by modern practices and technology

The transformational initiative has since recorded many strides, supported by NewGlobe education services with oversight functions managed by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), led by Hon Wahab Alawiye King Lagos state public primary school teachers have been re-trained and moved from analogue to digital teaching, using tablets.

Results have been excellent. Endline tests found that after two years, despite the impact of the covid pandemic, an average Primary 3 EKOEXCEL pupil could read at nearly the same fluency level as an average Primary 5 pupil from before the launch of the programme

Speaking with the confidence of a man who knows he has facts to back up his utterances, he moved on to what his administration has done with secondary education “In our secondary schools, we have started a comprehensive school system meaning it’s not just basic education you receive You are taught about entrepreneurship, music, acting and cookery to make sure you are coming out with a rounded knowledge of what you want to be ”

The Governor also touched on the welfare of teachers, an improvement the Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Comrade Hassan Olatoye, attested to last year According to Sanwo-Olu, “we have recruited over 6000 teachers and we are not just doing it for pupils We are also ensuring that we can keep our teachers in classrooms because once they see something, they want to go into another profession.

So how have we done that? Retain them and ensure that we can identify the best teachers every year, give them skills, treat them well and give them vehicles Brand new vehicles, best teacher, year on year We have done it for three years consistently and we are beginning to see the effect During holidays, we also intervene They have extra lesson curriculums for pupils that are in Year 10, and Year 11 and you know what, we are beginning to see the result Now, we have crossed 80 per cent, in three years, including maths and English There’s a pass in our secondary schools to about 82, 83% Last year, it was about 83 and 84% We are excited about our intervention; we are beginning to see the effect and the impact

“In secondary schools, we are training our teachers. I sign a request from TESCOM daily to train over 1000 teachers monthly. Per salary, we are the highest paying in the country; we give teachers brand new cars It’s an organic system that throws the best teacher up We are not giving one or two but 13 vehicles in primary, and secondary schools The idea is not to throw prizes at people, it’s to encourage others It’s to say that you

Touching on what the government has done in tertiary institutions, Sanwo-Olu said, “our father, Lateef Jakande, created the Lagos State University some 40 years ago, but for the first time, we have more state tertiary institutions University of Science and Technology and University of Education Lagos from one now has three tertiary institutions; there are ViceChancellors already for the new institutions We have intakes, a full complement of a university We have increased our subvention three folds, and we are building two new senate buildings in the two universities ”

While the government has invested heavily in infrastructure, Sanwo-Olu has not lost track of education’s importance and is strategically revamping it. He has taken on board the advice of great political philosophers and states people like Benjamin Franklin, who have reiterated the importance of education With his focus on educating the youth to secure the state’s future, he has demonstrated a firm commitment to Franklin’s “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest ” Whenever historians and others look back at this era in Lagos’ history, they would see a committed leader who believes in the redeeming power of quality education Thorpe, an education consultant, wrote from Lagos