The Edo State Government has trained another batch of 1,200 primary school teachers under the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme on digital pedagogy, with the government pledging to sustain the gains recorded in the education sector through the programme.

The 10-day Induction Training facilitated by the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (Edo SUBEB) took place at Edo State University, Iyamho, and concludes the process of bringing all state-owned primary and junior secondary school teachers into the EdoBEST programme.

Speaking to journalists at the graduation ceremony, the Executive Chairman of Edo SUBEB, Mrs. Ozavize E. Salami, said the government is committed to the development of teachers in the state, noting that over 16,500 teachers have been trained since the launch of the EdoBEST programme in April 2018.

According to her, “This training, which catered for about 1,200 digital teachers, is significant because it graduated the final set of a training cycle that started in 2018 when His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Edo State, launched the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme.

“With this training, Edo State, under Governor Obaseki's administration, has trained 16,500 teachers since 2018 (EdoBEST induction training alone). The State has also fully disarticulated junior secondary schools and onboarded all 307 junior secondary schools to the programme. As a result, all 1,024 primary and progressive schools are now fully EdoBEST schools (including those located in riverine, rural, and hard-to-reach areas) into the programme.”

“Presently, all basic education teachers in the state are now digital and have electronic tablets. Additionally, all 3,000 EdoSTAR teaching fellows in basic education are now trained and placed in schools across the state,” she added.

Salami continued: “At the training closing event, 75 field officers who, having completed a series of capacity building sessions and acted as facilitators at actual EdoBEST training, were certified as EdoBEST training facilitators for the sustainability of the programme. These are the civil servants who will continue to support the teachers through coaching, mentoring, and escalating relevant issues as the teachers carry out their jobs daily.

“These all stand to show that the Godwin Obaseki-led administration is committed to finishing what was started in 2018. At SUBEB, we are now fully focused on measuring the impact of the programme on learning outcomes and also on domesticating the programme for sustainability.”