Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (Edo SUBEB) is equipping 1,900 principals and teachers with modern teaching and school management techniques, computer gadgets and extensive after-training support as EdoBEST 2.0 takes off.
This was disclosed by Mrs. Ozavize E. Salami, Executive Chairman of Edo SUBEB, as she updated national and international journalists about development in Edo SUBEB at a media parley in Benin City.
“At the beginning of this reform, EdoBEST stood for Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation; but now, BEST is no longer an acronym. It is a complete word.
“Government is taking the reform across the education sector so that Edo State can be the BEST in all aspects of education.
“For us at the basic education level, primary and junior secondary schools are now under the control of SUBEB and we are implementing EdoBEST 2.0 reform across them,” Mrs. Salami said
Speaking further, she noted that, three major steps have been taken to reposition basic education service delivery in Edo State under the EdoBEST 2.0 programme: the disarticulation of junior secondary schools, the introduction of EdoBEST into progressive schools (hard-to-reach and rural schools) and plans for basic education infrastructure renewal.
In October 2021, junior secondary schools were disarticulated from the senior secondary schools and handed over to Edo SUBEB for management.
Afterwards, several steps were taken in preparation for full implementation of EdoBEST 2.0.
A baseline assessment test was conducted to know the state of the pupils in the system, mapping and verification of schools was conducted while new teacher recruited though the EdoSTAR programme were earmarked to beef up the number of teachers in junior secondary schools.
The media parley coincided with the training of junior secondary school teachers as an extensive 10-day training for junior secondary school principals and teachers commenced on 14, February 2022 to prepare participants for full implementation of EdoBEST 2.0 in their schools.
Already, teacher-tablets have been issued to all participating teachers while principals have been issues smartphones for better teacher coordination and school administration.
“In January 2022, we trained almost 700 teachers to take the EdoBEST reform to rural and riverine areas. These are very remote schools, with very few pupils, but Governor Godwin Obaseki insisted that they must also be reached with EdoBEST technology so that there is no disparity between parts of Edo State,” Mrs. Salami said
EdoBEST 2.0 will commence in 240 junior secondary schools at the end of the ongoing training session. Mrs. Salami noted that ahead is a new era of better learning and improved learning outcomes for students across Edo State.
