Nigeria: Bundesstaat Edo konzentriert sich auf berufliche Bildung

Why Edo Focused On Technical, Vocational Education – Obaseki

Edo State Governor, Mister Godwin Obaseki, has explained that the focus on technical and vocational education is to move the state from a place where people have certificates but no job to where people have jobs even if they do not have big certificates.

Obaseki stated this at the launch of Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) 2.0, which focuses on senior secondary school and technical education.

The launch held after the implementation of EdoBEST 1.0 that has changed the face of basic education in the state.

The occasion, which held in Benin at the weekend, also saw the launch of the Nigerian Learning Passport done in conjunction with the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Launched in 2018, EdoBEST shot Edo state into national and international prominence.

Obaseki said, "After Junior Secondary School, our children must have a vocation they are good at. In the light of this, we are going to ensure that the state has at least 20 Technical Colleges before we leave office in 2024."

"We are also working on 20 mini stadia across the state as we want to produce total and complete students from our schools," he said, listing the areas of focus of the programme to include: quality/relevance of what is taught students, access/equity, school governance, financing, secondary and TVET education.

"We now live in a world of knowledge and without acquiring the required knowledge to navigate today's world, one would not be able to get to anywhere significant. We have moved from the situation of our children are going to school, to quality and the relevance of what they are being taught. For us, education has not been an elitist product and we must continue that so that our children would have access to school and quality education."

"Human capacity is what tomorrow's world needs and if we don't give our children what they need, our country won’t be able to compete then. The key to any education reform is the teacher. That is why we have trained and retrained our teachers."

The governor assured that adequate legal frameworks have been made to back up SUBEB, PPEB, BTVET laws.

"Anybody who comes after us and wants to change anything would have to go to the lawmakers, who are the representatives of the people to change such laws. We are also going to implement Child Rights Law. Parents must do their part; every parent that can afford it, should/must provide food for their children to take to school. Parents must support their child’s academic and co-curricular pursuits," he said.

Also speaking at the occasion, Education Specialists at UNICEF, Yetunde Oluwatosin and Babagana Aminu lauded Governor Obaseki for the introduction of EdoBEST 1.0 and the higher version, EdoBEST 2.0, saying the former was an amazing experience in the state.

The duo expressed optimism that the EdoBEST 2.0 will also make significant impact in the senior secondary School level too.