By Dipo Olowookere
The collaboration between the Lagos State government and the Department for International Development (DFID) in its quest to improve on the quality of education in the state will continue to have the backing of the government.
This assurance was given by the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule on Tuesday during a courtesy visit to her office by the DFID Deputy Head of Regional Operations, Mr Ben Nicholson and his team.
Mr Adebule stated that previous collaborations with the body has brought significant improvement to the growth of quality education in the State, adding that the DFID’s Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) implemented in Lagos has helped to build teachers’ capacity and helped in the upgrade of public schools infrastructure.
The Deputy Governor, who observed that though the ESSPIN contract of the DFID is expiring next January, the State government is considering the review of the programme with a view to extending the pact because of the great value it has added to the education sector.
While commending the body for assisting in promoting the growth of quality education in the State, she urged them to design programmes that would further expose teachers in the public service to modern teaching techniques and build their capacity in the overall interest of raising the standard of education in the State.
According to her, “The collaboration of the DFID with the State government in the area of education has been of tremendous benefit to the State government and we hope to strengthen this working relationship so as to further promote the quality of education in our dear State.”
On the ongoing enumeration and registration of all private schools operating in Lagos, Mrs Adebule explained that the purpose was to ensure that all private schools in the State have government approvals and had complied with the stipulated regulations, adding that “the exercise is aimed at ensuring that all pupils have equal access to quality education irrespective of whether they attend private or public schools”.
She averred that, out of 15,000 private schools operating in the State, only 4,573 are duly registered and had received government approval, stressing that others are operating without licenses because they don’t want to conform to standard practice and warned that any school that does not meet government requirements after the exercise would be forced to close down.
Earlier, the leader of the team Mr Ben Nicholson thanked the State government for the warm welcome accorded his team and the positive collaboration over the years.
He explained that his team was on a 3-Day visit to explore ways of continued partnership and collaboration with the State government especially on how to sustain the gains of ESSPIN programme and institutionalize the State Annual Schools Census to actively cover both private and public schools in the State.
Modupe Gbadeyanka