As part of its efforts to boost quality and improve performance, the Kogi State Government intends to deploy EDVES platform in its schools.
The deployment of the education platform would start with the state university and later to basic and secondary schools in the state.
To actualize the project, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Kogi State on Economy, Finance and Investment, Abdulkareem Siyaka visited three private schools in Lagos State that have deployed Edves platforms.
Siyaka said the governor is determined to change the face of education in the state to ensure the pupils and students receive quality education.
The three schools visited by the Kogi State Special Adviser are Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, Oregun, Divine Offspring School, Ikeja and Dansol High School, Ikeja. He solicited for partnership with the schools in the areas of teacher training and girl-child education.
At Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, Siyaka told the management team that the state seeks partnership to boost the human capacity of the state using education as a tool.
He said to give credence to the state desire; the governor recently announced free education from basic to senior secondary schools and the directive by the governor on how to use technology to improve quality education delivery to the youths.
“We discovered in the state that there is a gap in the education system. Teachers are not exposed to modern technology. That is what has brought me to Lagos and this college. The state governor wants to change the narrative,” he stressed.
The SA acknowledged the existence of educational gap between the South and the North and that the current administration wants to bridge the gap through partnership and capacity building for the youths.
In her remarks, the School Administrator, Mrs. Olufunke Fowler-Amba, who led her management team, said the deployment of EDVES by the college has made work easier for the teachers and that parents don’t need to visit the school but use the technology.
She noted: “EDVES has become a family relationship kind of system. We depend on it for quality service delivery. The device has made things easy for the school. The system has been digitalized. It will work in public schools.
“We will love to partner with Kogi State. We will like to have some of your young girls in our school. The governor know’s that girl-child education is important. Tell your governor we are ready to train your teachers.
At Divine Offspring School, Ikeja, Siyaka, told the Director of School, Mr. Okechukwu Anunobi that his mission is to understudy what EDVES is doing for private schools and how it can be deployed in the state public schools.
His words: “Kogi State has 75 percent youthful population, which are our future potentials. We want to see how to use EDVES technology to work in our education system.
Responding, Mr. Anunobi described EDVES as “one of the biggest technology in the education system. The platform is good; I use it to monitor activities in our three branches. It is easy for parents to access information about their wards.
“We are opened to training your teachers as part of our contributions to the development of education. The platform has made our work easier. It will also help public schools in Kogi State in several areas.”
At Dansol High School, Ikeja, the Executive Director, Omotara Olanitori, told the special adviser that the partnership with EDVES has yielded positive results and would help the state in the areas of enrolment, improved standard and monitor activities of teachers.
She said: “With EDVES, record keeping is made easy, staff development, monitoring of teachers works and regular information available to parents. We are open to partner with public sector and international agencies to promote quality education.’’
Olanitori said the school is working to grow its students’ population to 5,000, adding, “Dansol started on October 9, 1995, to groom young leaders. We are against exam malpractice. We have six pupils on free tuition scholarship as our contribution with our local community.”
Siyaka told the Dansol team that Kogi has 78,000 pupils in primary and secondary schools and over 850,000 students in the state tertiary institutions.
He explained that there are 25 percent chances of girls completing their education as against 75 percent male that may not finish their school, noting, ‘’we are working with international agencies to address the girl-child education.’’
The Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of EDVES, Mr. Dare Adebayo said the technology outfit plans to work with Kogi State, thus the fact-finding visit by the special adviser to users of the educational platform.
Adebanjo said: “We have over 1,600 private schools in the countries in Africa where EDVES have been deployed to schools. Part of our goals is to boost quality education using technology.
“We built executive dash board to monitor students, attendance, teachers’ activities, and tackling academic performance of students. With EDVES, states can monitor public schools. We have submitted proposals to some state governments. In Lagos over 600 private schools are using our technology platform.”
He said with the successful deployment of EDVES in private school, ‘’we are now reaching out to public schools. There are many advantages on the use of EDVES by public schools, which have large population.”