Efforts by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration to transform the education sector in Edo State and tackle learning poverty was brought to the fore at the South-south Human Capital Development Conference, with other state government’s commending the governor’s investment in the education sector.

The 2023 South-South Human Capital Development (HCD) Conference is taking place in Benin City, the Edo State Capital, with the theme, “Accelerating HCD in the South -South of Nigeria.”

The two day programme, between January 17 and 18, 2023 has in attendance HCD teams across Nigeria, Education Commissioners and other senior government officials from the South-south region.

Speaking during a panel session, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Education, Hon. Gentle Emelah, commended the transformative reforms in Edo’s education sector under the leadership of Governor Obaseki, noting that Edo has set the template for other states.

She noted that Bayelsa has understudied the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme and is now implementing a holistic reform of its education through the Bayelsa Prime.

Hon. Emelah noted, “1,300 teachers are currently undergoing training to help improve their capacities as these teachers will help the state kick start the Bayelsa Prime which we copied from the EdoBEST programme to improve the educational capabilities and knowledge of our pupils and students in Bayelsa State.’

On her part, the Edo State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Joan Osa-Oviawe said Governor Obaseki is taking human capital development seriously using education as a platform to drive the vision.

She shared the success story of the edoBEST programme which was launched in 2018 and has now been expanded into EdoBest 2.0 in 2021 to ensure primary and secondary students are captured in the programme.

The Commissioner said the programme focuses on five transformative pillars, including governance system, teachers’ professional development, learning for skills, school environment and values.

She said, “Soon Governor Obaseki will be launching the Edo State Learning Agenda. We want to set clear targets from foundational literacy to competency-based pedagogy in our tertiary institutions.

“Since we started the EdoBEST reforms, we have received various states and countries who have come to Edo to understudy what we are doing, including Lagos, Ondo, Bayelsa, Rwanda and Sierra Leone amongst others. We are excited in Edo to see that what we are doing in Edo is in alignment with the HCD thematic area of education.”