Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) introducing KwaraLEARN – a public education transformation programme designed to improve learning outcomes for primary school pupils across the state.
The governor described the initiative as a lifetime investment to empower teachers and give public school pupils the best shot at 21st century education with reverberating effects on the future of the state.
“The KwaraLEARN programme will empower our teachers with the right digital tools to be at their best while providing an electronic platform to make classrooms and schools transparent. The technology will monitor attendance and performance of pupils and teachers in all classrooms, offering continual support and feedback,” AbdulRazaq said at the signing of the MoU with the government’s technical partners, New Globe, in Ilorin, the state capital.
“This is our flagship education programme. It will transform all government primary schools using innovative technology, data-driven platforms, high-quality learning materials, effective training and ongoing coaching and support for teachers and school leaders.
“Our technical partners — NewGlobe — are trusted to drive this programme to success. They have done it in Edo and Lagos, and we trust them to do a lot more to partner with other stakeholders towards returning basic education to the dream of our founding fathers.
“KwaraLEARN represents our vision for a stronger Kwara. It is set to deliver dramatic improvements in learning outcomes for public school children across the state. It will accelerate the numeracy and literacy skills of our pupils, enabling them to compete with their peers anywhere in the world.
“This is because we believe that the path to prosperity is through the education of the Kwara child. Education underpins economic growth, stability, and sustainable development. Kwara Learn will deploy 21st century technology to support teachers and schools. It will enable our children to fulfil their potentials and offer them and the state a brighter future. KwaraLEARN will empower our teachers to become highly skilled through training and motivation to succeed at their job.
“Technology is the future. I urge the people of our state, especially our education stakeholders, to support this great initiative. It is the best investment we can make in the future of the Kwara child,” Governor AbdulRazaq stated.
For her part, Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajiya Sa’adatu Modibbo-Kawu, said: “This is a thoughtful and innovative idea of the present administration to change the teaching method to a modern 21st century digital learning in Kwara. The introduction of the new technology to the schools will definitely complement the earlier investments in infrastructural development in our schools, the transparent and competitive recruitment of exceptional teachers to our classrooms and training and retraining of teachers.
“The service provider will carry out intensive training of the teachers who are the end users of the devices and would support continuous monitoring of the exercise for a period of four years. Meanwhile, the whole exercise will not attract any cost to the teachers and will also provide employment opportunity for Kwarans.”
Chairman, Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB), Prof Shehu Adaramaja, said the vision of the government was to improve primary school outcomes through KwaraLEARN by transforming learning in all classrooms and ensuring every child has access to high-quality and well-supported teachers.
Director of Policy and Partnership, New Globe, Dr Wuraola Kumbi, commended the vision of Governor AbdulRazaq for the education sector in the state.
“I sincerely like to commend and celebrate His Excellency for his vision in the education sector. We have followed closely all the laudable projects in accessing UBEC funds for infrastructural development and teachers training, the passage and signing into law of Education Trust Bill, the education summit and so many things to put Kwara education on the map of not only in Nigeria but across the world,” she stated.