‘Primary school enrollment in Kwara increased from 120,000 to over 180,000 in 2 years’
KwaraLearn initiative has recorded huge success with improved learning outcomes and enrollment of pupils from 120,000 to 180,000 in the first two years of its establishment.
Speaking at a Stakeholders’ Retreat marking its second anniversary on Tuesday, the Managing Director of the tech-based KwaraLEARN initiative, Mrs Laide Abel, said that the initiative has continued to record huge success.
According a statement issued by Mashood Abdulrafiu Agboola, Deputy CPS Government House, Ilorin on Tuesday, “Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s investments in the tech-driven KwaraLEARN initiative has continued to record success with improved learning outcomes and enrollment of pupils from 120,000 to 180,000 in the first two years.
“The retreat saw different departmental make presentations to analyze their experiences on the fields and in tech-based situation rooms in different parts of the state”, the statement added.
KwaraLEARN is an acronym for Kwara State Leading Education Achievement and Reform Now, involving government’s huge investment in modern technology to empower teachers and support learning in basic classes.
Laide further stated that KwaraLEARN has improved literacy and numeracy skills of pupils in Kwara basic schools by at least 50%.
“So far, we have seen a lot of impacts, and I will say in two years, we are happy with the results we are getting. For instance, the number of our school children who could not read has been reduced by over 50 percent, while the number of our children who could not solve simple numeracy sums has been reduced by over 50 percent. We will continue to do more to achieve more positive results,” the Managing Director told reporters on the sideline of the retreat in Ilorin.
“Another area that I must talk about is the improvement in the enrollment of children in schools. The school enrollment has increased to over 180,000 children from primary 1 to 6 across all public primary schools in the state from 120,000 when the programme commenced.
“That shows the impacts and acceptability of the programme. Similarly, absenteeism has also dropped by 50 per cent because everyone understands that they are being monitored directly from different situation rooms.”
She commended the administration for being passionate about educational development and appreciated AbdulRazaq for his trust in her team.
The retreat was attended by top government officials, including the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Muhammed Baba Salahu; Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development Sa’adatu Moddibo Kawu; Commissioner for Planning and Economic Development Aliyu Kora Sabi; Commissioner for Communications Bola Olukoju; Chairman; State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Prof Sheu Raheem Adaramaja; Accountant General of the State Alhaji AbdulGaniyu Sani.
