Parents and teachers in Edo State public schools have applauded Godwin Obaseki, the Edo State executive governor for his basic education sector transformation reform programme encapsulated in EdoBEST.
In 2021 Obaseki expanded the EdoBEST programme that was founded in 2018 to accommodate junior secondary schools and tertiary institutions in a bid to further spread the goals of the initiative. And over 300,000 pupils in the state concluded the 2021/22 session in primary and junior secondary schools.
Many parents and guardians who were at the Parents-Teachers Conferences (PTC) held in 1,313 schools across the state to mark the official end of the 2021/22 academic session spoke glowingly about the basic education sector reformation strategy of the governor while also expressing appreciation to the teachers for being the bedrock of the reform.
PTC was introduced in state-owned schools in Edo State as part of basic education reform. The conference provides an opportunity for parents to have face-to-face conversations with the teachers of their children as they work together for general improvement in pupils’ learning outcomes.
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Sarah Oloyede, the mother of an ECCDE 3 pupil at Asoro Primary School while reviewing her daughter’s report sheet with a class teacher noted that there was a marked improvement compared to last term.
“I have been following my daughter’s performance throughout this term. I am really happy with the results. I must really commend the class teacher for her patience. I also appreciate the method EdoBEST is using that encourages pupils to read from a tender age,” Oloyede said.
Similarly, Joy Anyalewechi, whose daughter is a student at Oredo Girls’ Secondary School thanked the teachers for a wonderful session.
“I am impressed that despite missing weeks on medical grounds, my daughter has been able to pick up this term. I was initially worried about how her absence from school would impact her performance but the teacher helped her make up for the losses,” she said.
Speaking on the student’s performance over the term Mary Otohile, a primary 5 teacher of Asoro Primary School expressed delight in the improved performance of pupils in her class.
She attributed this to the continuous use of digital learning resources, teacher professional development and standardised classroom techniques adopted because of EdoBEST.
She also enjoined parents to be more involved in their children’s academic development.
“This past term, the children performed better than before and it is important that this is sustained in the coming session. I have asked parents to engage their children this holiday.
“We have a lot of learning resources and platforms like EdoBEST@Home that they can use in keeping them engaged. This will also allow parents to be more involved in their children’s studies and with this, we will see improvements in the coming term.
“Since we were fully integrated into the EdoBEST programme, we have noticed an increase in the learning abilities of our students. They are more attentive in class while participating extensively in each lesson. I am excited to see this improvement across other terms and sessions,” she said.
Recall, the World Bank in January 2022 estimated that 89percent of children in Africa are unable to read and understand a simple text.
And in tackling learning deficiency, Edo State under the leadership of Obaseki adopted a homegrown solution as early as 2018.
The solution which is called EdoBEST has led to a significant improvement in the learning outcomes of pupils in state-owned primary schools.
