The Lagos State Government has described its Unified Scheme of Work and launch of Mobile learning devices/E-Books for secondary school students as ground-breaking and designed to revolutionise teaching and learning in schools in the State.
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu made the remark on Tuesday at the unveiling of the scheme and launch of the devices for secondary school students.
He said that the framework for the new schemes was geared towards promoting deep learning.
The governor said it was for learners to take ownership of knowledge acquisition through strategies that reflect 21st century skills and international best practices.
According to him, the feedback so far is that the reviewed scheme is an additional resource for better teaching and learning, driven by technology which has created active participation of learners.
“As you all know, education represents the third pillar of our administration’s T-H-E-M-E-S agenda, through which we have developed various initiatives to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in our schools.
“We took a holistic look at the curriculum in use in the state and re-engineered it to meet the demands of modern education without veering off the national benchmark provided by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).
“It is also noteworthy that the new schemes of work are age appropriate, serve as rich reference material and are in alignment with the national curriculum of NERDC.
“I am aware that our cerebral teachers, most of who have translated our policy and vision of the education transformation plan into positive outcomes, have started using the reviewed Unified Schemes of Work,” he added.
Gov. Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Folashade Jaji, noted that the result of the efforts had shown that the transformation agenda was in sync with the new world order.
“We have been committed to this transformation from the beginning due to knowledge of recent advancement globally that learning must be participatory and engaging for today’s students to appreciate its futuristic impact.
“As a responsible government, we have invested in digital devices and e-books in continuation of our Agenda to seamlessly fuse education and technology and upgrade our educational system to meet the world standard.
“We will therefore continue the massive investments in this sector by improving the capacity of our students to cope with the use of technology and ensuring our school personnel are ICT-compliant,” he added.
The governor declared that the development of specialised e-books for major subjects came with mobile applications for both public and private schools to provide more teaching and learning options against the traditional classroom system.
On the same note, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, said that the reviewed scheme of work was aimed at helping the teachers develop lesson plans and notes that would reflect 21st century learning.
Adefisayo explained that it would provide the modern platform which would go a long way to enable students study and carry out research on their own to further enrich their knowledge.
She noted that the state was focusing on deep learning for students and their core skills, adding that when they are engaged in critical thinking and problem solving in the classroom, they are able to answer questions better.
Speaking, Mr Bolaji Abayomi, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, said that the sector infused technology into education as both are a twin pillar in the THEMES Agenda of Gov. Sanwo-Olu’s administration.
According to him, this has been guided by the principles of change and innovation, with change in the structure of the schemes of work in order to make learning more engaging and more students-centred.
“Our students will get more involved and will be critical thinkers right from their early education through junior and senior secondary schools, all because we have been innovative by making our schemes of work compliant with the world of ICT.
“Our educators can assess them real time by the press of a button, we have also moved away from textbooks to e-books,” he added.
Also, Mrs Esther Adegbamigbe, Director, Curriculum Services Department of the ministry, in her goodwill message, said the idea behind the initiative was to make learning much easier, effective and participatory for students.
Adegbamigbe urged teachers in the public and private sectors to embrace and key-in into the reviewed scheme, being a revolutionary measure that would bring the desired learning outcome in the students. nan.
