THE Kwara State Government will on May 16, 2022 kick-start its data-driven Education Transformation Project (KwaraLEARN) across 365 primary schools in the state.

The Chairman, Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Shehu Adaramaja, who made this known while speaking with newsmen, said the programme would commence across 365 primary schools in Baruten, Offa, Ilorin East, and Ilorin West local government areas of the state.

The KwaraLEARN intervention by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq's administration is a public education transformation programme aimed at improving teaching and learning using innovative technology, data-driven platforms, high-quality learning materials, effective training and continuous coaching and support for teachers and school administrators.

Adaramaja said, “KwaraLEARN could not have come at a better time, given the challenges education is facing in Nigeria as captured by a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report delivered during a recent programme.

“Starting with governance, the Kwara State Ministry of Education, KwaraSUBEB and our technical partner, NewGlobe, developed a project communication and coordination plan to guide the management of the programme.

“Stakeholder sensitisation campaigns have also happened in the four pilot local governments, with meetings held with traditional rulers, education trade union representatives and Education Secretaries, among others.

“Today, KwaraLEARN has completed academic field studies in randomly selected schools to learn about teachers' English fluency and proficiency, pupil oral reading fluency, and foundational numeracy.” He explained that the process employed by KwaraLEARN has been systematic and scientific to achieve the desired learning outcomes.

According to him, the decision to start the project was sequel to the critical achievements the state had recorded in academics, governance, stakeholder engagements, operations, school inspection, technology, job creation, leadership and development.

On the selection of the four local governments for the pilot scheme of KwaraLEARN, Adaramaja said they were randomly picked due to population from both rural and urban centres to check the outcomes before a statewide operation.

The SUBEB chairman noted that KwaraLEARN's key achievements in operations and technology include the delivery of 4,329 teacher tablets and smartphones, procurement of 250 blackboards, hiring of IT operation teams, setting up of teacher tablets and validation of tech applications in schools.

He further disclosed that 1,813 teachers and headteachers from across 227 schools in Baruten and Ilorin West LGAs had participated, adding that the second phase would start on May 5, 2022, with prospective participants from Ilorin East and Offa local governments.

“Our technical partner, NewGlobe, has done a tremendous job in ensuring that participants are on the right teaching trajectory by deploying experienced personnel and facilities such as teachers' smartphones, tablets and applications for the exercise.

“It is worthy of note that the teachers have shown great enthusiasm and a keen interest in becoming a better version of themselves during the course of the training,” he added.

Adaramaja said that the programme was also creating a long socio-economic value-chain that benefited Kwarans through various job opportunities.