“Now that the London model which is effective has been brought to Akwa Ibom, there is no doubt that in a matter of time, education in Akwa Ibom will become as good as it is in London.”
These were direct remarks of the Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the All-Nigeria Conference of Principals of Public Schools (ANCOPPS), Mr. Stephen Akpabio, after a recently concluded two-day capacity building workshop on Education Skills Upscaling for principals of public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State.
Recall that the Akwa Ibom State Government had recently signed a bond for an education exchange programme with the United Kingdom, when the State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, played host to a delegation from the Southwark Council, London, led by the Mayor, Mr. Michael Situ, who was in the state to finalise arrangements for an educational exchange programme and other mutually beneficial ventures in areas of education, business, sports and tourism.
As part of the exchange programme, the Senior Education Advisor, Southwark Council, London, David Bromfield who was part of the delegation led a two-day capacity-building workshop on Education Skills Upscaling for principals of public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State.
The school heads, who were highly appreciative of the programme, admitted that the value gained from the robust engagements and knowledge-sharing sessions have propelled them to a new level of renewed commitment as direct implementers of government policies
“This workshop has opened our eyes to new ways to go about our job. There is no way our schools won’t perform better as a result of this engagement,” Akpabio, the state chairman (ANCOPPS), said.
Akpabio admitted that the principals were really impacted by the workshop and would be going back to their respective schools as better leaders and administrators, urging the state government to make the workshop a regular exercise.
Upscaling head teacher’s skills on day one of the workshops, Mr. Bromfield tasked Principals of Akwa Ibom public secondary schools with quality leadership in education and effective curriculum inspection, insisting that as leaders in education, the principals must be aware of the numerous factors that come to play when effecting a change.
He listed some reasons why people may resist change including fear of the unknown, lack of good information, fear of loss of security, no reason to change, fear of loss of power, lack of resources, bad timing, and habit while tasking the school heads on various approaches they could adopt to overcome the challenges.
The principals, according to Mr. Bromfield, could choose the most suitable leadership style that would help them achieve the desired outcomes, disclosing that leadership styles such as coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pace-setting, and coaching have their different benefits.
In his words, “As a leader, you must constantly ensure that you thank your team and make them understand that they did the job and not you. If you keep ignoring their role and take all the good credits, they will grow to resist you and reduce commitment.”
Sharing knowledge on curriculum inspection, the Education Advisor said inspection aims to monitor the quality of education, behaviour and attitude, personal development, and leadership, charging the school heads to prioritise these key areas for efficiency.
He further disclosed that the quality of education is judged based on three elements – intent, which includes aims, content knowledge and skills, structure and sequencing, etc; implementation, which covers the quality of teaching assessment, etc.; and impact, which requires that students should know more, remember more, and do more, etc.
“There are two types of curriculum inspection, the graded and the non-graded. These two are done differently and for different goals. However, the common factor is vital assessment. What is taught must be assessed. You may not be able to check everything but just check. Without checking, chances are that educational policies or curriculum may not be implemented as intended,” he said.
Mr. Bromfield advised that proper inspection and monitoring were necessary because it was not enough for school heads to rely on students’ scores to determine the implementation of the curriculum by the teachers as numbers could be misleading.
Day two of the training featured a presentation on The Way Forward for Education, which recommended that the government should establish an Institute for Policy Research, empower teachers, and commit to stable, multi-year funding, among others.
Earlier in her opening remarks, the state Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Idongesit Etiebet, noted that the essence of the exchange programme was to allow participants to learn and embrace global best practices in education delivery, urging the school heads to make judicious use of the knowledge they will acquire during the workshop.
“I strongly believe that the import of the topics billed for the two-day workshop such as “Leadership in Education: Managing Change,” “Towards a Contemporary and Comprehensive Theory of Learning,” and “The Way Forward for Education,” among others, will yield positive results in the areas of policy formulation and implementation,” she said.
The Commissioner for Information, Comrade Ini Ememobong in his remarks noted that the workshop is a step to opening many vistas of development in the education sector of the state and that more human resources programmes will be introduced to equip principals and teachers to stay up with contemporary trends in scholarship.
Ememobong, a co-facilitator of the Workshop, described life as a process of studentship, where death was the graduation. He said the gift of a good teacher was the best because teachers write what a child becomes in life.
The Information Commissioner applauded Governor Eno for the opportunity provided for the school administrators to share experiences with Mr. Bromfield, whom he thanked for setting aside his 61st birthday celebration just to ensure the programme succeeded
Recall that as part of the preparation for the UK/Akwa Ibom education exchange programme, 31 students drawn from public secondary schools across the 31 local government areas of the state had been examined and scheduled to travel to the UK to pursue their education. To complement this effort, some principals of public secondary schools in the state have also been selected for further studies in the United Kingdom.
Governor Umo Eno while hosting the visiting Mayor and his entourage earlier described Situ’s visit as a demonstration of integrity and commitment to the exchange deal and reaffirmed the commitment of the state government to fulfil their part of the partnership obligations with utmost transparency.
Governor Eno said the programme intends to give oversea exposure to some bright but not-so-privileged Akwa Ibom children and encourage them to believe in hard work. He commended the Commissioner for Information, Comrade Ini Ememobong, for his effort in bringing the vision to fruition.
Furnishing a Justification for funding the programme amidst the scourging economy, the governor said though the cost may be high due to unfavourable exchange rates, the human capital development investment for the state and the benefits for Akwa Ibom children outweigh the cost.
He assured the Southwark Council of the integrity of Akwa Ibom people, explaining that modalities have been put in place to ensure the return of everyone in due time, affirming that the programme will not just be a one-off thing.
“I can guarantee on our honour that every child and member of staff that will leave to the UK, will return. That is the commitment I have made because we hope to make this a continuous thing,” he stated.
To further cement the bond between the state and the United Kingdom, Governor Umo Eno, also proposed a forum of Akwa Ibom-Southwark business communities to help explore opportunities for investments between the two entities, assuring of his administration’s commitment to maintain the state’s prestige in sports and tourism, as a state with the only FIFA certified stadium in Nigeria.
Earlier, Mayor Michael Situ of Southwark Council lauded the ingenuity of the government and people of Akwa Ibom State for not only indicating interest in partnering with his government for exchange programmes, but also taking steps at a very impressive pace to concretise the partnership, describing Governor Umo Eno’s leadership as service oriented.
“When we all think of ourselves as being here for service, the job of governance becomes very simple in the sense that your focal point becomes what will benefit the people and how to address their issues and concerns.”
Mayor Situ said schools in the London Borough of Southwark, scheduled for the exchange programme were already excited about it and expressed optimism that the people of Southwark, especially those of African descent, will be excited to also have the opportunity to visit Akwa Ibom for interactions in culture, sports and other areas of interest, affirming his satisfaction with the infrastructure and ambience in the state.
