Lagos State Government has expressed its readiness to improve its educational sector through innovative ideas that will strengthen Public and Private Partnerships, PPP.
The Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo on Wednesday made this known at the 2023 Lagos Education Conference themed” Exploring the opportunities in Public – Private Partnerships for Educational Development in Nigeria” held at Neca House Events Centre.
She said in actualizing the 21st century educational skills and transformation in the State, there is need to explore and consult Public – Private Partnerships in education to standardize the quality education and improve the academic performance of teachers and students in the State.
The Commissioner stated that the power of collaboration in education sector is a collective responsibility which has been a wonderful experience and has gone a long way in promoting the State’s education sector.
Making reference to the existing relationship between the State Government , Casio, the maker of Casio Calculator, and SKLD integrated services who is their sole distributor in Nigeria, Adefisayo said the Ministry has been in partnership with the company In the development of educational system for a number of years, stressing that the contributions of the company has been remarkable.
She said training of teachers, building and funding of Casio Mathematics Training Lab among others are the major contributions of Casio towards educational development of the State, adding there is an ongoing plan by Casio to ensure every student is given scientific calculator free of charge.
The Commissioner affirmed that the partnership has been fruitful as the impact has made the State record an outstanding performance in the last three Western African Examinations Council results, where students excellently passed Mathematics.
She added that the students’ outstanding performance is attributed to the quality of training, competent teachers, conducive learning environment, among others.
While saying that the Ministry is open to partnerships for educational programmes that will improve and better the lots of students, Adefisayo, however, noted that the State Government is open to more partnership initiatives that will improve the State’s education sector.
Speaking at the conference, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Andrew David Adejo said the Federal government has been pursuing and sponsoring Public – Private Partnerships interface to ensure smooth running of government establishment.
He said education is an indispensable tools for socio-economic and technological transformation of any society, adding that provision of quality education does not come cheap, hence the need for Public Public Private Partnerships.
“It is a fact that government alone cannot handle investment required in higher education sector without the adoption of Public-Private Partnerships” he noted.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Abayomi Abolaji on his part, said adopting Public-Private Partnerships is way to go in achieving quality education for students in the State.
The Permanent Secretary who was represented by Director \Head of Education Resource Centre Mrs. Akinlade Omolayo said quality education play major role in academic development of Nigerian students.
He said the outstanding academic achievement the State has recorded ever since it has been partnering with some key stakeholders in education sector cannot be overlooked.
Mr. Abolaji, however, urged the concerned stakeholders and residents to give full support to State Government towards achieving sound and qualitative education.
Speaking on the move to assist education sector of the State further, the General Manager Casio middle East and Africa, Mr. Koji Shimada revealed plan to come up with more educative programmes that would make learning interesting and easier for both students and teachers in the State.
He said Casio focus is to motivate students and enhance their learning skills.
The event has in attendance the SKLD Integrated Services Limited who also partners Casio in creating solutions that empowers quality delivery education in the State.
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