The Chairman, Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Prof Shehu Adaramaja, said he would kick-start its data-driven Education Transformation Project (KwaraLEARN) across 365 primary schools on May 16, 2022.
Adaramaja said this at a news conference on Sunday in Ilorin, Kwara State.
He said that the programme will cut across 365 primary schools in the state.
The take off pilot programme are in some schools – in Baruten, Offa, Ilorin East, and Ilorin West local governments of the state.
He explained that the KwaraLEARN intervention by Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration is a public education transformation programme to improve teaching and learning in schools.
“They will be using innovative technology, data-driven platforms, high-quality learning materials, effective training and continuous coaching and support for teachers and school administrators.
“KwaraLEARN could not have come at a better time, given the challenges education is facing in Nigeria as captured by a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report delivered during a recent programme.
“Starting with governance, the Kwara State Ministry of Education, KwaraSUBEB and our technical partner, NewGlobe, developed a project communication and coordination plan to guide the management of the programme.
“Stakeholder sensitisation campaigns have also happened in the four pilot local governments, with meetings held with traditional rulers, education trade union representatives and Education Secretaries, among others.
“Today, KwaraLEARN have completed academic field studies in randomly selected schools to learn about teachers’ English fluency and proficiency, pupil oral reading fluency and foundational numeracy,” he said.
Adaramaja said that the process employed by KwaraLEARN has been systematic and scientific to achieve the desired learning outcomes.
He said the decision to start the project is sequel to the critical achievements the state has earlier recorded in academics, governance, stakeholder engagements, operations, school inspection, technology, job creation, leadership and development.
Adaramaja said that the selection of the four local governments for the pilot scheme of KwaraLEARN were randomly picked due to population from both rural and urban centres to check the outcome before a statewide operation.
The SUBEB chairman noted that KwaraLEARN’s key achievements in operations and technology include the delivery of 4,329 teacher tablets and smartphones; procurement of 250 blackboards; and hiring of IT operation teams.
Others are set up of teacher tablets and validation of tech applications in schools.