World Bank Hails Edo on Improved Learning Outcomes, Assures of Support for Sustainability

•Obaseki receives Air Force war college delegates in state to understudy mining sector

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

The World Bank has commended the Edo State government for improving teaching pedagogy and learning outcomes in schools across the state.

The World Bank noted that the State through the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme has continued to shape and improve the quality of education in the State, assuring the Bank’s commitment to the sustainability of the transformative programme.

The report by Jaime Saavedra, Global Director, Education Global Practice at the World Bank and Martín E. De Simone, an Education Specialist at the Bank noted that the, “programme’s design is well aligned with the evidence of what works to improve learning outcomes, with a focus on foundational learning. Every teacher in the state receives lesson plans, a form of structured pedagogy.”

According to the report, since 2018, the government has shown strong commitment to improve education outcomes and has been implementing a series of reforms under the label of EdoBEST programme, aimed at improving teaching and learning practices in Edo state.

“The reforms in the education sector have been critical for our children. They are now learning how to read much faster. Stopping these reforms would mean killing education,” it quoted Obebo, a community leader and parent of a primary school student in a rural school in Edo State.

The World Bank added, “The program’s design is well aligned with the evidence of what works to improve learning outcomes, with a focus on foundational learning. Every teacher in the state receives lesson plans, a form of structured pedagogy.

“In a recent report on cost-effective approaches to improve global learning produced by the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel, structured pedagogy was identified as a ‘good buy,’ which means there is solid evidence that these interventions not only work but are also cost-effective.

“Rigorous evidence from The Gambia and Kenya, among other countries, have shown significant positive results. In addition, schools in Edo are frequently visited by learning and development officers, that perform as coaches that utilise a classroom observation tool to assess teachers’ performance and provide individualized feedback. The interventions were also adapted to face the COVID-19 crisis and deliver education in times of crisis.”

It added, “Despite the challenges and expected variation in the initial implementation of the program across the schools, the initiative has succeeded in improving the experience of students at scale.

“Today, more than 97 per cent of primary schools are part of the program. Teachers’ attendance has increased dramatically to 83 percent, and a routine has been established through which teachers utilise lesson plans and receive constant feedback.”

The report continued: “Working on the sustainability of the interventions across political cycles is fundamental. If the interventions continue and are strengthened, a whole generation will benefit from learning, which means much more than schooling. For that to happen, sustainability should be ensured across three dimensions.”

Meanwhile, Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, yesterday, received a team of the Nigerian Air Force War College who were in Edo to understudy the state’s mining sector security management system.

The Commandant, Air Force War College Nigeria, Air Vice Marshall Abraham Adole, led the Course 9/2023 delegates who are on a study tour to Edo State, with the theme, “Internal Security and Mineral Exploitation in Edo State by 2028: Strategic Options,” on a courtesy visit at the Government House in Benin City.

Receiving the team, Obaseki noted that the issue of security was one of the greatest challenges of the mining sector, stating that his government has adopted a systematic approach, sustaining collaboration with security agencies in the state to ensure safety and security in the sector.

He noted, “We are quite excited that you chose to come to Edo to also understand and throw more light on issues that have challenged us which we have been working assiduously to resolve.

“Mining areas are usually very volatile, security-wise, so what do we do as a state? We’ve had situations where we had to just prohibit mining activities in certain areas due to tension in the communities.

“We are going to be very interested in getting your views and insights on how we should organise security in areas where extraction is taking place and also to deal with a major issue that comes out of the extractive business which is the security considerations.”

Obaseki continued: “We have two strategic resources that, we as a people, have which we must focus on. The first is culture expressed in our arts, defense system, how we conduct ourselves as a people, and our political, social, and cultural institutions which we can proudly say places us in a very unique position in the continent and we believe that if we can diversify our economy to take advantage of these unique cultural assets we have, it gives us a room above everybody else in Nigeria.

“Our goal as a government is to make Edo a cultural hub and we will continue to work hard to invest in these unique assets. It’s challenging moving people from where they used to be to where they should be going but we are optimistic that in spite of the lack of understanding of what we are trying to do, we will eventually get to where we expect to be.”