The Lagos State Government has called on the private sector at corporate, group and individual levels to join it in providing more quality and functional education at all levels to the people of the state.
The state commissioner for education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, made the call on Wednesday at the 2023 state Education Conference organized in conjunction with Casio and SKLD Integrated Services Limited.
Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Exploring the opportunities in public-private partnership for educational development in Nigeria,” the commissioner said there is no government either at federal or state level that can all alone provide quality and functional education at both formal and informal settings for its citizenry and meet up with global standards, reason private sector involvement is greatly required.
She said Lagos State is peculiar among other states of the federation not only because of its huge population but also because of the high rate of people migrating into the state on a daily basis.
According to her, 26 persons migrate permanently into Lagos State every hour and majority of them are youths and children and that means increasing responsibility in education and other sectors for the government also on daily basis
While acknowledging the huge role being played by private schools in providing quality education for large numbers of children in the state, especially at primary and secondary school levels, Adefisayo urged corporate organisations, groups and individuals to equally lend their support to jointly move the education sector to higher pedestal.
She said Lagos State is not concerned only about students’ attaining academic excellence in classrooms, but also about their vocational skills, competencies, emotions, morals, culture and values system that would prepare them well for leadership roles in future.
Adefisayo, however, commended Casio and SKLD Integrated Services Limited and several other corporate bodies that are in partnership with the state government on the study of Mathematics and the training of teachers as part of their contributions to the development of education in the state, saying such partnerships are yielding tremendous results.
“So, we want many others to partner with us in any areas possible and we are not asking them to come and fund what we are doing, but they can equip our laboratories, they can train our teachers, they can lend their skills and competencies and they can even give us valuable advice, all towards moving the sector to a greater height,” she added.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Andrew Adejo, who is one of the panelists at the forum, commended Lagos State for always being at the forefront of innovation in the education sector and urged it not to relent.
He explained that the Federal Government had been carrying out similar projects in the sector by interfacing with the private sector in several areas of needs for its unity colleges spread across the country.
Another panelist, who is the Senior Deputy Registrar, Test Development, West African Examinatiuons Council (WAEC) Nigeria, Mrs. Fransces Iweha-Onukwu, also harped on importance of private engagement in education, saying contribution of every stakeholder in education would bring great results not only in learning outcomes and teaching but also in economic prosperity.
She said cases of exam malpractice is still high in the country, urging all hands to be on deck to fight the scourge.
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