Education will remain topmost priority for Lagos — Sanwo-Olu

The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has again reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to make provision of quality and quantitative education a topmost priority for the people of the state.

He gave this assurance at an event organised by the state’s Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) at the Alausa Secretariat on Monday.

The programme, tagged: “TeachForNigeria: A day with Mr. Governor,” was held to commemorate this year’s International Day of Education with a theme, “Learning for Lasting Peace.”

According to the governor, Lagos State has been given priority to the education sector and also technology to drive the sector and we shall continue to improve our investment in that regard every year.

“Now, I’m glad to announce to this gathering that our huge investment in the education sector from primary to tertiary schools is yielding tremendous results.

“For example, when our administration came on board about five years ago, our children’s performance in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination(WASSCE) was below 50 per cent and now we have moved up to about 80 per cent.

“Though we have not gotten there yet, we are on the right track to where we are going which is 100 per cent performance.

“Education is a powerful tool to change the world as the Late Nelson Mandela pointed out a long time ago.

“The world has witnessed and continues to witness incredible development in all spheres largely driven by knowledge and technology-driven innovation.

“And that is why our administration will continue to show unwavering commitment to the development of the education sector through unequalled investment in the critical components including the physical infrastructure of our schools to ensure a conducive learning environment, teachers’ welfare and capacity development, as well as provision of modern tools for an enhanced learning experience.”

Sanwo-Olu, however, commended the state’s TESCOM chairman, Mrs Victoria Peregrino and other members of the commission and the entire teachers in the state for their commitment and dedication to impact the lives of students in the state.

He also lauded the collaboration between TESCOM and TeachForNigeria, a non-governmental organisation in producing the 21st Century teachers, especially for schools in the under-served communities through a two-years fellowship programme.

He said the government would certainly address all the identified grey areas to make the collaboration more impactful for students and the state’s education sector at large.

He said Lagos State would continue to set the pace for other states and the country at large.

Speaking earlier, the chairman of TESCOM, Lagos State, Mrs Victoria Peregrino, said the essence of the state’s government partnering with TeachForNigeria was based on the quality of training the non-governmental organisation offers its trainees.

She said the partnership started in 2020 with most of the trainees had their two years of training in the under-served communities and many fellows who had demonstrated unequalled qualities among them had been offered employment by TESCOM.

She thanked Governor Sanwo-Olu for supporting TESCOM’s ideas and innovations including the TeachForNigeria project, saying the fellowship programme has produced teachers that are globally competitive and ready to serve even in the remote and riverine communities.

In his remarks, the Chairman of TeachForNigeria, Mr Kunle Elebute, said the sole aim of the organisation is to hone the knowledge and skills of young Nigerian graduates who are passionate about teaching to make them fit for the knowledge economy.

He said there is a gross inadequate of qualified and competent teachers in the country and that TeachForNigeria is filling up the gap.

He said quality education is what can easily lift people out of ignorance and poverty.

He said the fellowship programme is nationwide and that Lagos State is one of the major partners.

According to him, Lagos State has recruited up to 275 of our Fellows and placed them in no fewer than 205 schools with more than 90,000 students directly benefitting.