LAGOS COMMENDS BRITISH COUNCILS CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS EDUCATION

Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr (Mrs.) Idiat Oluranti Adebule has commended the contributions of the British Council towards the development of the education sector in the State.

Adebule who gave the commendation in Lagos today at a reception she hosted for some delegates from the United Kingdom who are in the State under the British Council Connecting Classroom Programme noted that for the state to achieve better education delivery, the cooperation and partnership of international institutions such as the British Council is imperative.

“The enormous contributions of the British Council towards the development of education in the State cannot be over emphasised and among which are the provision of Digital Hubs in three public senior secondary schools, organisation of several training and workshops for teachers, head teachers, officer in the Ministry and the sponsoring of Lagos State teachers and officers to international workshops,” the Deputy Governor said.

She stressed that the collaboration with the British Council was indeed a valued partnership that has been working for the state government hence she expressed the State government’s appreciation to the Council for partnering with the State in the process of advancing education in the State.

According to her, the focus of the cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the Council is not lost on government as it is aware of the need to walk the journey of adopting and integrating new educational trends in the State framework with a view to enhancing the performance, administrative efficiency and build up public schools in the State to global standards.

Dr Adebule noted that the 2015-2018 Connecting Classroom Programme will ensure that young people learn foundation skills and build the capacity of teachers to integrate a range of core skills into the curriculum thereby improving learning outcomes for students as well as enabled them to become more globally aware and competitive.

“I was reliably informed that the 2012-2915 edition of the Connecting Classroom Programme which was aimed at increasing the chances of young people worldwide to demonstrate enhanced knowledge, skills and understanding for work in the global economy came to an end in the month of June 2015. It is on record that a total of 55 public primary and secondary schools across the State benefited in the programme and are already in partnership with other Schools from the United Kingdom on the Connecting Classroom Programme,” she averred.

Earlier in her address of welcome, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Olabisi Ariyo explained that the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme is to develop and nurture school links involving Nigeria and United Kingdom (UK) schools adding that the links would promote greater understanding of global issues for teachers and students in the UK and Nigeria.

She added that the team will be visiting seven schools across the state and they are Lagos City Senior College, Sabo Yaba; Sanya Senior Grammar School, Sanya; Modupe Cole Memorial School, Bariga; Eva Adelaja Junior Girls Grammar School, Bariga; Keke Senior High School, Agege; Idimu Junior High School, Idimu; and Dairy Farm Senior Secondary School, Agege.

The head of the UK delegate, Mrs. Jane English commended the Lagos State Government for the partnership which she noted has been benefiting both Nigeria and UK adding that the continuous training of teachers will further enhance teachers’ and students’ learning skills.