Oyo State governor, Engr ‘Seyi Makinde has flagged off the flagged off distribution of instructional training materials and teaching aids to 18,000 primary and junior secondary school teachers across the 33 local government areas of the state.
This is as the state government also commenced training of the primary and secondary school teachers on the use of the teaching aids.
Makinde, who was represented by his deputy, Barr. Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal at the event held at the Emmanuel College, Agbowo, Ibadan, said the programme was part of the government’s commitment to empowering and equipping the educators, who in turn would impart quality knowledge to the pupils and students.
The intervention programme was facilitated by Global Partnership in Education, sponsored by the World Bank in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) and Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
He said, “We have come to demonstrate and make people aware that we are moving in tandem with educational development worldwide. We all know this is a digital age and we cannot afford to be analogue. So, we need to keep our teachers abreast of developments in their sector.
“These computer tablets that are being distributed will further enhance the instructional capabilities of our teachers,” Makinde said.
On the training, the Governor said it was going to last for about two weeks “so that no teacher would feign an excuse or pretend not to know how to operate the tablet.
“All subjects are included in the tablets. What you only need to do is to open the tab, go to the subject matter and begin to teach our students.”
While appreciating all the stakeholders in the educational sector, Makinde enjoined the beneficiaries to complement the efforts of the state government through their commitment and dedication.
Earlier, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education Intervention, Chief Suraj Abiodun Tiamy, said apart from the distribution of the instructional training materials and teaching aids, there would be four weeks training for teachers in sixteen centres across the state.
He maintained that the exercise would be monitored to ensure that the schemes of work programmed in the teaching aids were in tandem with the curriculum.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Oyo SUBEB, Dr Nureni Adeniran, said teaching aids would hasten teaching schemes and equally enable teachers to impart knowledge to the pupils and students.
“We are in a digital age and we are expected to move away from the analogue age. In other words, all these tablets have been built with the lesson plans for some of these subjects in them.
“A teacher should be able to teach without necessarily writing separate lesson notes because we already have prepared lesson notes. So, it will hasten learning.”
One of the teachers, Mrs Olufisayo Fajuyigbe, who spoke on behalf of other beneficiaries, thanked Governor Makinde for his efforts in improving the education sector, promising that teachers would continue to support the government and make good use of the instructional training materials and teaching aids.
