LASUBEB SEEKS COLLABORATION TO IMPROVE BASIC EDUCATION
The Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, LASUBEB, Mr. Wahab Alawiye-King has solicited partnership of some important stakeholders in the education sector in the quest to improve teaching and learning at the basic education level in the State.
Alawiye-King described the stakeholders, comprising of Education Secretaries in the State, Parent Teachers Forum, Association of Head Teachers, National Union of Teachers and School-Based Management Committees, among others, as vital in influencing their constituents to embrace government policies and programmes.
The Chairman, who made the appeal at a Stakeholders’ Forum held at Maryland to design collaborative ways of improving basic education in the State, noted that the government is interested in collaboration to ensure that the recruitment process is transparent, smooth and all-inclusive.
He added that the involvement of stakeholders in the decision-making process of LASUBEB is very timely, as this administration has concluded plans to join other States who have domesticated the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme initiated by the Federal Government for primary school pupils.
“There are several plans in the pipeline for our primary schools by the present administration in the State. For instance, our plans to digitise teaching and learning in our schools and also increase the number of our teachers among others would have a far-reaching effect if we involve major stakeholders”, Alawiye-King emphasised.
A Board member in charge of School Support Services, Dr. Saheed Ibikunle asserted that the government would follow due process in the recruitment drive, adding that some staff who had indicated interest to convert from their present cadres to classroom teachers will be considered.
Ibikunle averred that after the publication of vacancies in national newspapers, the first stage of the recruitment process will be conducted online and followed with written assessments to determine the successful candidates.
He, therefore, urged stakeholders and other parties selected to participate in the recruitment exercise not to give-in to any form of lobbying or pressure from members of the public but to ensure that qualified and competent brains are employed.
Speaking on the possibility of absorbing some members of N-Power during the recruitment exercise, Dr. Ibikunle stated that any qualified member of the programme could also apply when the application window is announced, stressing that the Board will not compromise its standards under any circumstance.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Sijuade Idowu-Tiamiyu, who is in charge of the Social Mobilisation Department of LASUBEB, likened the critical stakeholders to the bridge needed by SUBEB to reach the larger members of the public.
While noting that the need for the Board to collaborate on implementation of government policy for the education sector cannot be over-emphasised, Idowu-Tiamiyu urged the stakeholders to take ownership of all government infrastructure and projects within their domains by being the eyes and ears of the government in their localities.
In his own contribution, Mr. Bayo Adefuye – Board member in charge of Special Projects – accentuated the importance of the planned digitisation of primary schools in the State, maintaining that the innovative technology would help curb truancy and inefficiency amongst teachers and pupils, and ultimately improve teaching and learning outcomes.
He added that over 1,600 vendors had already been engaged by the Federal Government, through State Government, to kick start the Home Grown School Feeding programme for pupils in Primary One to Three.
The Chairman of Education Secretaries in Lagos State, Comrade Olalekan Majiyagbe, who responded on behalf of other stakeholders, expressed optimism in the capability of the new team of LASUBEB to advance the State’s education sector.
He, therefore, pledged the support of the stakeholders to the State government, promising that other members in their clusters would be adequately sensitised on the programmes, plans and policies for the education sector.