The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has charged owners of private schools in the State to ensure that they key into the ongoing education sector-wide reforms to produce students that will take their place in the new information age.
Obaseke gave the charge in Benin City on Tuesday, August 30, 2022, during a stakeholders’ dialogue session organized by the Ministry of Education for private school proprietors on education reforms.
Expressing delight at the number of attendees, Obaseki reassured that the education sector remains a priority for his administration.
He said: “When the Commissioner for Education said we should dialogue, I said please go ahead, let’s start to rethink education.
“As we look into the future, we are looking at the 4th industrial revolution, we are looking at the world of technology, it is a knowledge-based world. The people who dominate tomorrow are not the people who have natural resources; they are the people who have knowledge gained through education.
“So that’s why for us in Edo, we are not compromising; we want to prepare the next generation to be globally competitive. We want to give them the best quality education and we will not compromise.
The Governor added: “I have always said that if somebody asks me after leaving office as Governor, what would you say your greatest achievement has been? I will say thank God I had the opportunity to change the trajectory of education in Edo State because it’s all about human capacity, it’s all about the human being. It is the human being that builds everything else. So we must now focus on that child, and it is the human being that sets the agenda for the country.”
Obaseki further said that the dialogue session became necessary to right the wrongs of the past.
“The reason we have so many of you in this room today is because for many decades, the Government did not do what they were supposed to do, the Government abandoned education and many of you came in to fill the space, now that the Government has woken up what happens? Let us discuss.
“For us the three key pillars we are very keen on are first; if the schools are not properly run, we will have a problem, two, it’s about outcomes. We have to think about how we are going to improve the standards and the learning outcomes for these children.
“Thirdly we’ve talked about it, the school environment, well before now, I didn’t have the courage to say ok, because when you look at some Government schools, you say if your schools are like these, who are you to even tell other people about theirs.
“But this year alone, we spent almost N10 billion on our basic schools just refurbishing and we are putting money in our secondary schools. So you are going to begin to see changes. Part of the fight you’ve known we’ve been having politically is just trying to take education and not play politics with education.”
Speaking on the rationale for the meeting, the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe said: “At the ministry we have been involved in a series of reforms, implementation and planning for the last few months; and we felt that it was important to invite all of you here today to tell you some of these initiatives that will impact you as a private school proprietor, so that you will have an opportunity to give us your feedback and also have an input.”
The engaging session provided an opportunity for private school proprietors to ask questions, contribute to policy issues and share their experiences with officials of the government.
