One year after launch, Governor Douye Diri’s basic education reform has shown that change is possible if states make the necessary investment, writes Gilbert Ekwugbe.
As the cool harmattan breeze, mixed with soothing stream-fog from the Nun river, enveloped Agbere Community in the morning of 11, March 2024, all seven teachers in the state-owned primary school were already in school.
The time was 7.15am. Visibility was still low and the morning was cold but the teachers braved the weather to “mark-arrival,” a term they use to describe the process of clocking in with their government-issued teacher-tablets.
“It was not like this in the past,” says Mrs. Evelyn Ekiegha Ekese, the headteacher of the school, which caters to the learning needs of over 200 children.
In Bayelsa, government primary school teachers now have to arrive for work at between 7.15am and 7.45am or be regarded as late.
“There was a time, not too long ago, when most teachers in our schools would always be late. Some did not even show up at all, while others were simply not teaching even when in school.
“Back then, all a teacher had to do was to pacify the headteacher. There were loopholes in the system that were being exploited. But things have changed since BayelsaPRIME was introduced by the government.
“Imagine teachers now talking about meeting KPIs in government primary schools,” Mrs. Ekese says jokingly as she settles into her small office by 8.10am.
February 2024 marks the first anniversary of the commencement of BayelsaPRIME (Bayelsa Promoting Reform to Improve and Modernize Education) the basic education reform inspired by Governor Douye Diri’s vision of improved literacy and numeracy among pupils, as well as enhanced school management.
A visible mark of the programme’s impact is the complete overhaul of school management style which has taken place. This has led to drastic improvement in teacher punctuality and attendance, availability of data for policy making, shift in classroom management philosophy and quality assurance.
“We are no longer in an era where people falsify their school attendance or lesson completion rates and get away with it,” says Mrs. Ekese.
“These days, everything is monitored remotely, so even if a teacher reaches an illegal agreement with a headteacher, the system will still expose that teacher because data is collected remotely,” she adds, pointing to the sophisticated government issued-smartphone and apps that she uses to manage her school.
Democratising Education
Beyond engendering punctuality and helping teachers to become more effective, BayelsaPRIME is pupil-centred.
Classroom activities are centered on how pupils can assimilate what they are taught; and the quality of lessons is the same, be it in the most hard-to-reach swampy communities of Sagbama local government area, or the more cosmopolitan townships of Yenagoa, the state capital.
“What we are learning here in the small village of Agbere, is what those in the townships are learning at the same time,”Mrs. Ekese confirms.
For the first time, teachers in villages cannot complain about not having the textbooks to prepare compelling lesson notes to meet the needs of their pupils,” she says.
Each teacher in the BayelsaPRIME system receives the same research-based quality instructional guides which they deliver to their pupils and have the liberty to incorporate elements that will enable their pupils to digest the lessons.
Pupils are involved in the teaching and learning process. Teachers engage pupils to speak to each other and carry out other activities just to ensure that learning objectives are achieved.
Also, BayelsaPRIME is designed in such a way that even hard-to-reach schools which do not have the requisite number of classrooms or teachers are catered for through an innovative model referred to as the “Progressive School Model.” Here special measures are taken to ensure that no child misses out on the opportunity to learn.
Just two weeks ago, on International Women’s Day, one of the talking points at Bayelsa State Universal Basic Education Board was how creatively Governor Diri has democratised quality basic education service delivery through BayelsaPRIME.
Children in remote areas have access and girls who make up circa 45% of the pupil population in government primary schools are benefiting from the life-changing education.
“What makes us really happy is that we are seeing results from the perspective of the pupils and parents are testifying to the changes they are seeing among the children,” Mrs Ekese notes.
Measurable Impact
Just 19 weeks after BayelsaPRIME was launched in four local government areas, a measurement and evaluation exercise was conducted to assess the impact of the programme on children and the school system.
A total of 60 schools were selected for the activity: 32 BayelsaPRIME schools and 28 non-BayelsaPRIME schools.
The outcome reflects the importance of reform and the impact it can have on a system if well managed.
Pupils in schools where the reform has been implemented showed significant gains in average reading fluency. They gained between 7.5-9.8 cumulative words per minute, more than those in the comparison group.
All grades performed better on average — for example, Primary 6 pupils read 25 words more per minute while Primary 2 and 4 more than doubled their expected outcomes.
Progress was also made in decreasing the number of non-readers. Overall, the share of non-readers in schools where the reform was implemented decreased. Primary 1, 2 and 6 saw the greatest decrease, with Primary 1 dropping by 21% while Primary 2 dropped by 10%.
As expected, with increased reading fluency came increased comprehension to the pupils. Every grade showed improvement with comprehension questions. Primary 6 saw the largest gains, with test scores increasing by 22% points.
The case is quite different in the control schools as literacy and numeracy skills did not see the same level of improvement as what was observed in schools which have adopted BayelsaPRIME.
Stakeholders have continued to respond to the learning outcomes that have been achieved. “There has been a significant improvement in reading fluency. From my engagement with the teachers, I have come to understand this,” Peter Bilia, a schools supervisor said.
A parent noted that “My child has improved significantly, especially in the area of mathematics.”
In the interim, there are medium-to-long term plans to scale up the programme to the other local government areas in Bayelsa State.
As the programme expands to new schools, and increases the rate at which it is effectively used by headteachers and teachers, it will keep delivering learning gains to pupils.
An innovative basic education programme, BayelsaPRIME is transforming government primary schools into powerful institutions of learning. It is upskilling and equipping teachers with digital tools and skills relevant to their work, deploying a curriculum that helps children learn faster.
BayelsaPRIME currently caters to over 51,000 pupils across 216 schools.
