British Council, DFID commit £38m to boost learning in Nigeria, others

The British Council in collaboration with the Department For International Development (DFID) has committed £38 million to improve teaching and learning in Nigeria and over 30 countries worldwide.

Director of Programmes, British Council, Ojoma Ochai who disclosed this during the launch of the 4th phase of British Connecting Classrooms, a global education initiative designed to improve learning outcomes across education systems, said the programme will be delivered in more than 30 countries worldwide, including Nigeria.

“Across the globe, we will train 60,000 teachers and school leaders, and support 4,750 schools to work closely in partnership. Since 2015, the Connecting Classrooms Core Skills programme in Nigeria has engaged and trained over 5,000 teachers and school leaders as well as 200 government education officials in Lagos, Kano, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

Ochai pointed out that the agency in the next three years would continue to work with the Nigerian government at various levels to provide expert consultancy in line with the nation’s education priorities, including teacher professional development, effective school leadership and inclusive education.

She added that through Connecting Classrooms, the British Council have delivered the inclusive pedagogy course to teachers and school leaders in Abuja and Kano states, alongside 37 unity secondary schools, introducing them to practical and systemic ways of creating an inclusive environment in their classrooms and schools.

British Council Country Director, Lucy Pearson said through the Connecting Classrooms initiative, the organisation has worked with the Federal Ministry of Education to train selected teachers and school leaders on inclusive pedagogy.

“Within the area of inclusive education, British Council Nigeria has supported three state ministries of education – Kano, Jigawa and Lagos as well as the Federal Ministry of Education in providing best practice exposure to current trends within this area of quality education delivery. Over the years, senior education stakeholders have benefitted from participation in British Connecting Classrooms sub-saharan regional and global conferences on inclusion and special education in Dubai and South Africa.