Obaseki inaugurates ‘Edo BEST 2.0’ programme

Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo on Monday inaugurated “Edo BEST 2.0” programme aimed at capturing all secondary schools and tertiary institutions in the state.

Obaseki, who performed the inauguration ceremony in Benin, said that his administration inaugurated Edo BEST 2.0 to complement the feat recorded by the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EDOBEST) since it was inaugurated in 2018.

“As far as we are concerned in the state, the EDOBEST programme is one of our greatest achievements.

“We are very happy that EDOBEST has gained global and local recognition.

“We want to replicate the successes and achievements we’ve made in EDOBEST to Edo BEST 2.0 which is meant to capture our secondary schools and higher institutions in our dear state.

“I don’t see how EDOBEST will have been successful if not for the person of Dr Joan Oviawe, the Chairman EDOBEST and her team for making it possible.

“You have helped us build these children to primary six level, now, what is next?

“So, today, we are going to unveil the Edo BEST 2.0 as a way to ensure the gains of learning at the basic education level is sustained after the first six years.

“We have made progress, we are not where we want to be yet, we need to accelerate it.

“Our kids are now learning better, they are more than 70 per cent of their colleagues in Europe and Asia.

“They are far from where the colleagues in Nigeria are, but that’s not the standard.

“We want to be at 100 per cent, we want to extend this education transformation throughout the educational chain, basic education system, middle school, technical colleges and tertiary institutions.

“The tertiary institutions are going to focus on in producing certain kinds of manpower, particularly agriculture, health care technical college”, he said.

Obaseki gave assurance that his administration would make tertiary institutions competitive globally, adding that the education system must deliberately work on national values.

Dr Joan Osa-Oviawe, the Chairman of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), lauded the leadership of the governor in transforming the educational sector leveraging on Basic Education.

Osa-Oviawe expressed SUBEB commitment and courage to realise the governor’s dream.

He noted that the transformation in the sector had made it easier to monitor the attendance of teachers in class.