Edo begins assessment of secondary school students to review gains of EdoBEST 2.0

CHRIS AKHABUE

The Edo State Government has commenced a statewide assessment of senior secondary school students, as well as those in technical schools to establish the gains recorded by the government in the education sector through the EdoBEST 2.0 programme.

The Edo State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Joan Osa-Oviawe, disclosed this during an inspection tour to various schools in the state.

Some of the schools visited include Ihogbe Secondary School, Army Day Secondary School and Evbareke Secondary School, among others.

The Commissioner explained that the assessment exercise, a randomized test, will help the ministry determine the areas that need improvements to enhance learning outcomes, especially in English and Mathematics

She said, “Across the state, we are doing a diagnostic testing of our students in SSS 1-3 to know the level that our students are academically.

“What we are doing today is a very important aspect towards enabling us in the education ecosystem to have accurate answers to the questions that His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki has been asking us which include: Are the teachers in school? If they are, are they teaching? If the teachers are teaching, are the students learning? If they are learning, how do we determine this?

“To determine these, we are setting many targets for foundational literacy and numeracy. For those already in secondary school level, if they are still behind, we intend to roll out a very effective and robust remedial programme to help them catch up.”

The Commissioner added, “We chose to do a randomized test and depending on the outcome, we will now determine if we will roll it out to all students in our system. First quarter of next year, we are going to be rolling out our learning agenda which is going to focus on quality education.”

Reassuring the government’s commitment to sustaining gains recorded in the education sector through the EdoBEST programme, Oviavwe linked the progress to the cohesion between the executive principals and the officials of the Edo State Ministry of Education

She said, “We are very pleased with our team that have been working with our executive principals since September. First term ends on Friday December 16, 2022 and we have accomplished a lot this term. We intend to do more next term and beyond.

“We have been able to significantly address the issue of truancy and absenteeism among teachers and now more of our teachers are in school. Some are still playing truancy and when those are caught, they will be dealt with accordingly. Edo State teachers are paid the highest salary in the country. So, no teacher in our system has any excuse not to come to work and teach.”

At Evbareke Secondary School, the commissioner restated the government’s commitment to rehabilitate the school and others across the state, adding, “We have begun the process of renovating our secondary schools. A team is already going round to do a proper scope of work and costing.”

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