In a bid to aid the success of the recently launched Lagos State comprehensive School programme initiative, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently sent a group of selected teachers and coordinators in the programme on a two-week training course at Tampere, Finland.
The training was facilitated through Lagos State Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Government of Finland and aimed at increasing the capacity of teachers in the state, improving learning in schools across Lagos.
During the training which lasted April 18 – May 1,2022, the group was immersed in the workings of an education system which is ranked among the best in the world.
The major aim is to pick up on teaching methodologies and strategies which could be incorporated into the state’s comprehensive schools programme for the best possible results.
Finland is widely acclaimed for its student-centred approach to learning, and in a stress-free environment. Education in the Scandinavian nation is built on a guiding principle where teachers are encouraged to develop their inner skills; collaborate with other professionals to improve the national curriculum; and this makes for constant innovation.
Adebayo Sodiq, a teacher from Lagos Education District 11, alongside his colleagues, witnessed innovation first-hand when he sat in at a project presentation on recycling plastic to form rings, earrings, and other items at Ylojarvi Upper Secondary School.
Sodiq, said he was impressed by the confidence of the students and the obvious depth of their know-how, adding that It was also an eye-opener on how learning can move from the pages of textbooks into practical and useful purposes.
“It is a testament to the flexibility of an education system where all learners are accommodated as to leave no dead end in the system. This is very similar to the vision of Lagos.
“Comprehensive Schools Programme and offers a specific equivalent in the Finnish JOPO Programme which is designed to help struggling students regain motivation and prevent dropout, “ Sodiq said.
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Another teacher, Bunmi Abiloye, an education district VI6 tutor, said JOPO is like a mirror image of our Lagos State Comprehensive Schools Programme, noting that the trip had exposed and expanded the scope of the teachers.
“With elements like activity-based and on-the-job learning, individual learning plans, as well as school camps, field trips, study visits, internships and team building that help expand and improve our scope, “Abiloye said.
Team building and collaboration are a major pillar of Finnish education. While its approach places the student front and center, the input of the teachers, other professionals, and communities in different environments, cannot be overstated.
The second week of the course saw the group pay visits to Tampere High School of Technology, the Tampere Adult Education Centre, various vocational colleges, and JOPO Lower and Upper Secondary Schools.
On the impact the training has made on the group and how they plan to transfer such learnings to the Lagos State Comprehensive Schools Programme.
Adejare Judah, another teacher in the group, said it was obvious that the conventional school setting of teacher, students and classroom is history and was no longer obtainable.
Judah stressed that the training has given him the knowledge that the learning environment has become a much wider field comprising not just the teacher and students, and textbooks but also vocational and skills training incorporating input from other resource persons and technology.
“We plan to take what we have learned back to enhance the Comprehensive Schools Programme in Lagos State and public secondary school education in Nigeria as a whole, “ he added.
