Private sector involvement crucial to lift sector, says Bank- Olemoh

The advocacy for education development in Nigeria received a boost recently as leaders in the provision of low fee education gathered to address the challenges in the sector and the role of the government as well as the private sector in delivering qualitative education and enhancing the teaching and learning methods.

The school leaders convention is a forum for educators to understand the current realities in the sector; evaluate practice, reflect and strategise on school development.

Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh said the future of education requires private sector involvement.He said with strategic partnerships, the government is working towards positioning Lagos for a technology driven future and prepare a workforce with the skillset that will drive the future of Lagos and meet industry standards.

Bank-Olemoh said the Government has invested N15 billion in building school infrastructure to ensure that students learn in a conducive environment and is committed to creating more opportunities for students through the ongoing CodeLagos, ReadySetWork, LagosRead projects as well as reduce the teacher to student ratio in the classrooms.

While addressing the challenges of education in Africa, vice president, policy and partnerships at the Bridge, Mrs. Adesuwa Ifedi said the greatest cure for poverty is education.

Stressing that the future of Africa depends on access to scalable quality education, Ifedi reminded that “Education and work in the region will determine the livelihoods of nearly a billion people in the region and drive growth and development in generations to come’.
“The solution to Africa’s education has to be scalable in order to address the problem awaiting the continent in 2050 as revealed by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs World population prospect 2012 report that Africa will have the fastest growing workforce and school age children by 2050.

And Nigeria, being the most populous nation will contribute significantly to the number hence the need to build a nation with an educated and skilled workforce that is stable, prosperous, and competitive.”

Consequently, Ifedi said technology is the game changer in scalable quality education delivery. ”Technology can be used to address inefficiencies in education management and the learning outcomes required in today’s workforce and used to support teachers to accelerate teaching and learning at scale to reach many more children”. She said.

The convener, Mrs. Uwaye Soetan said the convention was aimed at addressing the challenges in the sector and the roles of the government and the private sector in delivering education of the future and enhancing the teaching and learning methods.“Once we understand the dynamics of the challenges and link up with the right network, we are halfway through overcoming the problems”. She said.

Others at the event include Principal Consultant/CEO, Leading Learning Limited, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo; Director General, Education Quality Assurance Lagos State, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo among others.