Obaseki, who spoke to journalists in Benin City, said his government is pursuing far-reaching reforms in the sector to tackle learning poverty knowing the important role education plays in the growth and development of society.
The governor said the state, through the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme, has been able to equip teachers with the tools and skills to execute a unique type of learning experience for children in the state.
He said, “For us as a government, our priority is our people because it is the people that create everything else.
“That is why we have prioritized education in Edo and we are spending as much as we can afford on education and health sectors as they affect the people. In the case of education, our focus is on the foundation, because once a child has a sound foundation, that child can build on that foundation subsequently.”
Obaseki added, “The children in our public school can compete with their colleagues anywhere in the world. The Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) is acclaimed as one of the transparent educational projects on the continent and we want to extend it to impact on more children in Edo.
“Our teachers are all having modern devices; they are trained and retrained. They are focused on the child to ensure they impact learning on the children. We will extend this programme to the barracks and other places where we have schools. We don’t see any difference between the child in the barracks and the outside.
“Our goal as a state is to train between 5,000 and 10,000 people in software development, programming and coding, among others before I leave office. We will ensure Edojobs extends these services to more communities,” he assured.
