By Ajibola Olaniyi
Osogbo – Alhaji Fatai Kolawole, the Permanent Secretary of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in Osun, says the board has trained 150 quality assurance officers on capacity building.
Kolawole, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday said that the officers were in different schools across the state.
He said that the capacity training for the officers became imperative in the face of the need to entrench quality universal basic education in the country.
According to him, the commencement of education quality assurance in basic education institutions in November, 2012 by UBEC marks a milestone in the planning, implementation, and measurement of quality basic education in Nigeria.
The permanent secretary further explained that capacity building training for quality assurance officers would contribute to ensuring the attainment of minimum standards in the input and output process that would make pupils and students alike more responsible.
“The issue of access and equity as envisaged by the founding fathers of UBEC is being met through this concept.
“It is apt to state that large learning achievement gap that exist between the private and public schools can only be bridged through a more scientific approach to quality assurance activities,” Kolawole said.
He maintained that the present administration in Osun “is strongly determined to reform education sector in the state, particularly in elementary and middle schools, which form the foundation for education growth.”
Kolawole noted that government in the state had embarked on several giant strides in the education sector, which includes infrastructure developments such as construction of 16 Model schools and 15 storey building Model Middle Schools.
He added that Osun was the first state to organise quality assurance workshop for its officers among other states in Nigeria.