The Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has launched the Jolly Phonics literacy project, in partnership with an international not-for-profit organisation, Universal Learning Solutions. Currently, 640 primary one teachers are being trained.
Jolly Phonics is a fun and interactive teaching tool that uses the proven synthetic phonics literacy teaching methodology. Synthetic phonics is mandated or recommended by governments around the world because of the way it quickly provides children with the skills needed to read and write. The charitable arm of Jolly Phonics, Jolly Futures, has donated resources worth over N50 million in its mission to secure better literacy learning in the state.
The Projects Director at Universal Learning Solutions, Louise Gittins, who thanked the Executive Secretary of Oyo SUBEB, Mrs. Lucy Eniola for adopting the project in the state, said “we are delighted to be partnering with Oyo SUBEB to train, resource and mentor its teachers in Jolly Phonics. I would particularly like to thank the executive secretary for her wisdom, strength and initiative in inviting us to work in Oyo State. This project will make the future of children in Oyo State brighter.”
Eniola was said to have visited the training venue to encourage teachers and was reportedly delighted with what she saw.
Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Gary Foxcroft, commended the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for its continued support for the adoption of Jolly Phonics in public schools across Nigeria. “UBEC has really recognised the tremendous impact that Jolly Phonics has been having on literacy levels in Nigeria’s government schools and has taken it on as one of its flagship programmes.
“This has helped us to initiate new projects in several states. Jolly Phonics will be in 30 states by the end of this academic year. This is truly amazing and will help to improve the reading and writing abilities of over 3.5 million children over the next two years.”
Universal Learning Solutions has also been collaborating with other federal agencies such as the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to ensure that the use of the synthetic phonics method in Nigeria is sustainably embedded into the education system.
