• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Stakeholders call for collaboration to strengthen basic education in Lagos

Education
In ensuring that children of school age in Lagos State are enrolled in school for the compulsory nine years basic education in preparing them for lifelong learning, stakeholders in the education value chain have called for collaboration between government and the various interest groups in the sector to strengthen basic education in Lagos.
“Learning cannot take place in an unconducive environment; if the home is conducive and the school itself is conducive, it is then we can have a good learning atmosphere. That is the purpose of the parent-teachers collaboration, and they have to work together,” Aboluwodi Solomon Ademofe, the education secretary of Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Education Authority (LGEA), said at sensitisation of community stakeholders on the basic education projects held in Lagos.
“I observe that parents do not care about the education of their children; they assume that everything is for the teachers. This is a forum to inform them that their duty is to collaborate with teachers and ensure that pupils do what they are expected to do, at least moral values. Parents are to ensure they inculcate moral values in their children and maintain discipline.
“… the community also have a big role to play in the development of education in Lagos State; so the community, clergymen, all have a role to play in the overall outcome of the education process in Lagos,” Ademofe said. 
Johnson Ibidapo, programme officer at HDI, said government had a role in ensuring that the school environment was conducive for learning – classroom environment, school buildings, structures were well furnished.
According to Ibidapo, there are laws that address the out-of-school children in Nigeria; however, there is sometimes a lack of political will on the part of the government to implement the law. “Nigeria has one of the most fantastic policies you can think about in every sector, our problem is implementing them to the letter. So, we at HDI do a lot of advocacy so that the government will continue to implement these laws,” Ibidapo said.
Olufunso Owasanoye, executive secretary of HDI, said every child in Lagos must have access to quality basic education, with standard educational infrastructure and service delivery, hence the need to engage the stakeholders on their role in the sector.
“Their role is to ensure that every child in this community is in school, not only in school but they have to stay in class. They also need to support the government in making sure that learning environment is conducive for the children,” she stated.
Stakeholders engaged in the one day sensitisation workshop on the basic education projects in the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEB) 2017 action plan includes the School Based Management Committees (SBMCs), Parents’ Forum, Community Based Organisations, Community Development Associations (CDAs), traditional and religious leaders, Civil Society Organisations in Ajeromi-Ifelodun LGEA.