Anambra State Educational Advisory Council Presents Report To Governor Soludo

 

• Unveils Pathways To World-Class Education In Anambra State

By Osita Chidoka

Yesterday, I had the honour of presenting the Anambra State Educational Advisory Council report aptly titled “Solution Agenda: Shaping the Future of Anambra State through Innovative Educational Strategies” to Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo at the Governor's Lodge Awka, Anambra State. 

The Council's 18 members, with Governor Soludo as Chairman and myself as Vice Chairman, were inaugurated to develop new Pathways for delivering quality education and improving learning outcomes for students in the Anambra school system. The Hon. Commissioner for Education, Prof Ngozi Chuma Udeh, served as Secretary. 

Anambra state, as of the 2022/2023 academic session, had 1098 public and 2694 private Early Child Care and Primary Schools. The total number of students in the public segment was 255,897 pupils. 

In the secondary school segment, we had 263 public and 769 private secondary schools. The student population in the public secondary school was 133,741 students. Anambra State had consistently ranked within the top three in WAEC and JAMB scores over the years. 

The council invited stakeholders across the education spectrum for inputs, held several virtual meetings, and identified and reviewed the educational framework for six countries across the continents, emphasizing Africa.

The report focused on elevating the state's education system. Our Key recommendations include: 

• A new funding mechanism that includes community participation, an education trust fund, and improved funding for teacher recruitment and training. 

• Repurpose the state’s multiple education platforms into a single technology platform capable of providing students, parents, inspectors, and teachers access to Information, training videos, student results, and performance data across all metrics. 

• Redesign the school inspection and supervision framework to enable grading and ranking of all schools in Anambra State along pre-set criteria like quality of Infrastructure, performance in state standardised tests, learning outcomes, student's performance in national examinations, and teacher qualifications, attendance, and performance. 

• Aligning the state’s aspirations with global standards by joining the Program for International Students Assessments (PISA) as a sub-national government. Anambra State should dream globally. One of the critical lessons from PISA 2022 was that lower-income nations could improve education outcomes by prioritising teacher quality over class sizes.

Governor Soludo, in his speech, recognised the report's significance, hailed its content as "excellent" and its recommendations as "innovative." He promptly directed the operationalisation of the report's key recommendations, which include introducing a new funding model for public schools in line with his vision of free and qualitative education already implemented in all public schools, setting new standards for school inspection and supervision, and developing a strategy for grading and ranking schools across the state. 

The Governor’s immediate and action-oriented response underscored his commitment to improving education in the state beyond mere scores in national exams. The Governor's action showed commitment to making education free and qualitative, improving access, and preparing the students for global competition and innovativeness. 

I am also happy to report that the Council was supported by my network of volunteers across the country under the Unlock Naija and the Chidoka Top Fans Platforms. 

They crunched the numbers, reviewed countries with functional education standards across the five continents, and provided invaluable insights. We will use this network in the coming days to do more. Thank you to all the volunteers. A certificate of participation is on its way to all of you. 

It's a time for joy and optimism as we embark on this transformative journey, pioneering innovative solutions for funding, supervision, and technology integration in education. Together, we are building a brighter future for Anambra's children and setting a stellar example amid national challenges. Let's celebrate this milestone and spread the word!

Osita Chidoka 

12 January 2024