Education: Assessing Okpebholo’s one year in office

When on November 12, 2024 Senator Monday Okpebholo took office as the governor of Edo State and said that education would be one of his priority areas, was shown few days after when he appointed Dr Emmanuel Paddy Iyamu as the Executive Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board. That was among the initial appointments the governor made. Iyamu has since been moved to the office of the Commissioner for Education in the state.  

One year is not too short to know the direction a government is going regarding a particular sector. While there are still challenges to be surmounted, the state government has made some appreciable impact in the sector. Assessing what Okpebholo has done in one year in the education sector is also because his predecessor, Godwin Obaseki, was rated high in performance in the same sector, especially with his EdoBEST Initiative.

So far, Governor Okpebholo’s achievements in education include a state of emergency declaration on the sector, which has led to a significant increase in funding for Ambrose Alli University, and the construction of over 68 new schools and numerous renovations across the state. He has also focused on teacher welfare by hiring 5,000 new teachers, reinstating illegally disengaged staff, and regularizing the terms of over 4,000 contract teachers. His administration is implementing policies to improve student learning such as the EDU-Rescue Programme, reviving vocational training, and making Edo indigenous languages compulsory in schools.  

In the area of infrastructure and resources, new schools have been built, and massive renovation of existing ones done, including the provision of furniture and boreholes. There has also been a review of subvention to tertiary institutions including   Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma and the construction of new lecture halls and hostels. Installation of amenities like solar lights and VIP toilets in public schools has also been done, while the introduction of EdoCert 2.0 is to allow students to access their academic records online.  

Student support and learning has seen the introduction of EDU-Rescue Programme which was launched to provide quality education to underprivileged children.

To ensure that no Edo child is left behind, and promote inclusivity, a bursary scheme for indigent students was launched and the state adopted the Federal Government’s NELFund programme.

The state government also plans to introduce digital learning platforms, vocational training, and mentorship programmes to aid skills acquisition and has also approved the compulsory teaching of Edo indigenous languages in schools across the state, while it is reviving civic education, guidance and counselling, and moral reorientation programmes.  

The state government, through the Ministry of Education, has also signed strategic partnerships with foreign organisations and institutions including the Fujian jiangxia University, China. The agreements are to immensely benefit state-owned higher institutions.

The partnerships focus on advanced research, student exchange, faculty exchange programmes, engineering, electronics, and technological development, positioning Edo State as a beacon of educational innovation in Nigeria and beyond

According to Dr. Iyamu: “Education is the foundation of progress, and by connecting our institutions with global centres of excellence like Fujian University, we are preparing Edo youths for the future—equipped with the skills, knowledge, and global exposure to drive development in engineering, technology, and innovation so they can succeed anywhere life takes them.”

As a result of the changes and development brought to the education sector in the last one year, a number of recognition and awards have come the way of the state government and its officials. Recently, the House of Lords, United Kingdom,   gave the state, through Iyamu, the Distinguished Euroknowledge Outstanding Leadership in Education Development.The House of Lords is the upper chamber of the British Parliament.

The recognition came on the heels of the award of a Fellow of the Centre for African Research on Enterprise and Economic Development at the University of West Scotland, United Kingdom recently given to Iyamu.

Speaking on the award, Iyamu said: “It is another feather to the well-decorated cap of the Edo State Government in the area of education development. It also means all the efforts we are putting into the sector are being noticed within and outside the country. I thank Governor Monday Okpebholo for having the welfare and development of Edo youths at heart and has been supportive of all the efforts my team and I in the Ministry of Education are putting in.

We are not going to rest on our oars. It is a call to greater service and efforts and education in Edo State is heading for higher pedestal.”