To further transform primary education and improve learning and teaching in its schools, the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) has launched a round-the-clock dedicated control center called “The Situation Room” for its EKOEXCEL programme.
The state-of-the-art facility, equipped with cutting-edge technology, built by EKOEXCEL’s technical partners, NewGlobe, is arguably the first in Nigeria.
It will enable LASUBEB to monitor real-time data to increase learning gains and improve teaching methods.
Apart from enhancing transparency by allowing officials to see what is happening in every classroom and school in real-time, it will also boost the digital tracking of attendance, the percentage of lessons delivered daily, pupil assessment data and quality assurance data via a real-time dashboard and timely reports.
The Situation Room, launched on Thursday, April 13, will also enable LASUBEB to use school data, staff data, grade and streams data, pupil data and lesson completion data to manage school perform better.
At the launch, Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, affirmed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s commitment to transforming primary education with data and technology.
Adefisayo, who further noted that improvements in quality, systems strengthening, and access would lead to gains in learning, added that the governor is very proud of the initiative, particularly its impacts on pupils, who have vastly improved. “We are very proud of that fact as they will understand and be able to apply technology and innovation. There is so much data that this Situation Room will give, which will make us make informed decisions. There won’t be guesses; we will know what is happening and how it is happening to develop solutions.”
Also speaking, LASUBEB Chairman, Wahab Alawiye-King, said the conception and inauguration of ‘Spotlight’ demonstrate the government’s unwavering belief in using technology to transform the education sector.
Alawiye-King, who thanked NewGlobe for their support in making the Situation Room a reality, expressed delight that quality is continuously in Lagos’ education sector.
He said: “Transforming the basic education sector is crucial, and with the introduction of the digital device, we can monitor what is happening in our schools in real-time. This is very good for us at this time. Technology is used globally to monitor and track classroom achievements, and Lagos should not be a difference. That is why we have introduced this.”
In his presentation, the Permanent Board Member in charge of EkoExcel, Bayo Adefuye, stated that the situation room is data-driven, which creates real-time digital transparency throughout the EkoExcel system through a bank of computers and wide screens using a computer programme called ‘spotlight’.
According to him, “This room can remotely access digital insights on exactly what is happening in schools, including lesson delivery, attendance and learning outcomes on a micro and macro level.”
With the technology platform, he noted that the board can digitally track attendance, the percentage of lessons delivered daily, pupil assessment data, quality assurance data and more via a real-time dashboard, adding that there will be monitoring officers that will also be going out for assessment.
At the handover/commissioning ceremony, which had various stakeholders in the basic education sector in attendance, the Group Managing Director of New Globe International, Dr
Soji Akinyele presented both the Commissioner and SUBEB Chairman a certificate on the global recognition of EKOEXCEL methodology by Harvard Economist, Professor Michael Kremer.
The building and inauguration of the Situation Room further affirm EKOEXCEL as a flagship transformational initiative prioritised by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who inaugurated it in 2019.
Since then, the child-centered initiative enabled by modern practices and technology has made significant strides.
A study of EKOEXCEL’s impact revealed that pupils advanced in numeracy twice as fast and literacy three times as quickly as their peers in traditional schools.
Its efficacy was also evident at the 2022 National Common Entrance Examinations. A Lagos State public primary school pupil scored 198, just five points behind the overall national best, who scored 201 out of 210.
A total number of 71,738 pupils registered for the exams.
The EKOEXCEL programme was also awarded for its evidence-based impact in just three years at the 2022 Titans of Tech Awards for Best Innovative Digital Learning Platform of the Year.
Governor Sanwo-Olu recently highlighted its gains in an article titled ‘The Potential of Africa’s Youth is Enormous. We must ensure they learn,’ he wrote and published on Wise Qatar Foundations’ online platform, an international, multi-sectoral platform for creative thinking, debate and purposeful action, established as a global reference in new approaches to education.
