Kwara State Government will on May 16, 2022 kick-start its data-driven Education Transformation Project (KwaraLEARN) across 365 primary schools in the state, Chairman Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Prof Shehu Adaramaja has announced.

Adaramaja, who made the disclosure in Ilorin at a press briefing, said the programme will commence across 365 primary schools in Baruten, Offa, Ilorin East, and Ilorin West local governments of the state.

The KwaraLEARN intervention by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq's administration is a public education transformation programme to improve teaching and learning 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," he said.

"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 has completed academic field studies in randomly selected schools to learn about teachers' English fluency and proficiency, pupil oral reading fluency, and foundational numeracy," he added.

Adaramaja explained 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 was sequel to the critical achievements the State has earlier recorded in academics, governance, stakeholder engagements, operations, school inspection, technology, job creation, leadership and development.

On the selection of the four local governments for the pilot scheme of KwaraLEARN, Adaramaja said that the local governments were randomly picked due to population from both rural and urban centres to check the outcomes 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; hiring of IT operation teams, set up of teacher tablets and validation of tech applications in schools.

On the first phase of induction training which took place in Queen Elizabeth school Ilorin, the Chairman disclosed that 1,813 teachers and headteachers from across 227 schools in Baruten and Ilorin West LGAs have participated, saying that the second phase will start on 5th of May, 2022, with prospective participants from Ilorin East and Offa local governments.

"The induction training, which is a pivotal element of KwaraLEARN, concludes its first wave today (April 29 2022). Since its commencement on April 19 2022 at Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, 1813 teachers and headteachers from across 227 schools in Baruten and Ilorin West LGAs have participated while the second wave of the induction training would commence on the 5th May, 2022 and is expected to have over 1500 participants from Offa and Ilorin East LGAs.

"Our technical partner, NewGlobe has done a tremendous job in ensuring that participants are on the right teaching trajectory by deploying experienced personnel and facilities such as teachers’ smartphones, tablets and applications for the exercise.

"It is worthy of note that the teachers have shown great enthusiasm and a keen interest in becoming a better version of themselves during the course of the training."

Adaramaja added that the programme is also creating a long socioeconomic value chain that benefits Kwarans through various job opportunities.

"For example, KwaraLEARN has created jobs by hiring School Inspection Associates and staff to train, support, coach, and mentor the headteachers and teachers. We have onboarded schools’ staff to get them prepared and build their capacity for the fieldwork. 43 job offers have been made, while 38 full-time staff have been hired so far. Currently, we are training 3500 teachers drawn from across the state who will implement this programme beginning in May.

"The whole essence of this programme – and the preparations that have gone into the pre-launch activities – is to ensure that Kwara State would not be one of the states where primary school pupils have poor learning outcomes. The whole agenda is to ensure that we give every Kwara child a solid foundation, and that regardless of a child’s birth location or the income level of their parents, or their level of literacy, all children in Kwara State can achieve their full potential and compete favourably with their peers across Nigeria and the world.

"KwaraLEARN will demonstrate that, with the right innovation, training, materials and support, government schools can deliver radically better learning outcomes for children. With the right investments so far made and more to be committed, this success can and will be seen in a very short number of years, so that this generation of children will have the potential to transform the state."

Adaramaja acknowledged the foresight and commitment of Governor AbdulRazaq in birthing this life-changing educational programme, which is the third of its kind in Nigeria today.

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