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EKOEXCEL’s data-driven methodology features at EWF

By Innocent Anoruo
12 May 2023   |   2:15 am
Lagos State government’s flagship education transformation initiative, EKOEXCEL, has been featured at the ongoing Education World Forum (EWF) in London.

Lagos State government’s flagship education transformation initiative, EKOEXCEL, has been featured at the ongoing Education World Forum (EWF) in London.

This year’s edition of EWF is themed “New Beginnings: Nurturing Learning Culture, Building Resilience, Promoting Sustainability. Stronger, Bolder, Better Education by Design.”

Education ministers from 118 countries gathered at the three-day event to examine how education has changed and what has been learnt from recent disruption and responses, as well as what longer term challenge and change should be considered.

Among other things, the participants addressed building resilience among people, organisations and systems for learning and education. Also, they will examine policies for development of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values.

In his keynote address, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of NewGlobe, Jay Kimmelman, said Lagos State government had significantly reduced levels of learning poverty of students who could not read.

“Three years ago, Lagos public primary schools have learning poverty at par with low income countries around the world, and in just three years, they have accelerated to levels at par with middle-income countries.

“The public primary schools are now producing top pupils in Nigeria’s National Common Entrance Examinations, which is a testament to their holistic transformation,” he said.

Executive Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), Wahab Alawiye-King, represented the state and EKOEXCEL at the forum. Other notable Nigerian delegates at the forum were Edo State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Joan Oviawe; Edo SUBEB Chair, Mrs. Ozavize Salami; Kwara SUBEB Chair, Prof. Shehu Adaramaja: Bayelsa SUBEB Chair, Chief Victor Okubonanabo; Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, among others.

EKOEXCEL’s feature at the 2023 EWF is significant because it further positions Lagos as an African leader in public education transformation with its data-driven methodology, which aligns with the views of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on data collection, which states: “A common obstacle preventing the alignment of a vision with a realistic target is the lack of regularly collected data of good quality on learning outcomes.”

Lagos, through EKOEXCEL, launched a dedicated real-time monitoring control centre called the Situation Room, which visualises the flow of data – direct from the classroom to dashboards displaying it in real time from all 1,013 primary schools under the programme.

The state-of-the-art facility equipped with cutting-edge technology is, arguably, the first in Nigeria for government-owned schools. Apart from enhancing transparency by allowing officials to see what is happening in every classroom and school in real time, it also boosts the digital tracking of attendance, the percentage of lessons delivered daily, pupil assessment data and quality assurance data via real time dashboard, and timely reports all provided by a software called Spotlight.

At the launch, Lagos Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, affirmed the state’s commitment to transforming primary education with data and technology.

Adefisayo, who noted that improvements in quality, systems strengthening and access would lead to gains in learning, added that the governor is very proud of the initiative, particularly its impact on pupils, who have vastly improved.

In an interview at EWF, Alawiye-King said: “Education World Forum is a platform where we can share our responsibilities and visions as education leaders and come together to forge the way ahead. We are trying to use this platform to improve the basic education sector and the education sector in general. We have spoken to so many experts about access, opportunity and equity; all of them are areas that have to be improved globally.

“It is very pleasing to see a replica version of the EKOEXCEL Situation Room here at the Education World Forum”. The replica version was on display at the NewGlobe exhibition stand, which are technical partners of the EKOEXCEL programme.

Also recently introduced to EKOEXCEL to further enhance the programme’s efficacy, is the Let’s Mark App, which allows teachers to quickly and accurately mark multiple-choice exams using the school leader’s EKOEXCEL smartphone. The teacher uses the app to ‘scan’ the answer sheet. The app, in turn, automatically marks all responses and identifies incorrect responses. The teacher then marks the incorrect answers on the paper.

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