Play-based learning initiative for pre-primary to primary two children has been described as a crucial bedrock for children which Oyo State Government intends to harness for the development of education.
In this regard the State Government has promised to train all pre-primary school teachers in order to inspire standard practice in the education sector as well as grow teachers’ self esteem during teaching.
This was said on Tuesday by the Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (Oyo SUBEB), Dr Nureni Adeniran during a courtesy visit by the Chief Executive Officer, Early Childhood Development Initiative, ECDI, Canada, Mrs. Patricia Eno Falope to his office in Ibadan.
Adeniran informed his visitors that the State government would embark on various measures to get more from teachers, as according to him, the gains in training teachers more on early childhood education in the State would be to the benefits of the teachers and the society.
He maintained that if initiatives targeted at teachers’ capacity improvement and development were adopted, the State could then boast of providing quality education.
“Oyo State Government would key into this laudable initiative of Early Childhood Development Centres, across the State to get more in return to achieve the ultimate dream of having success through students’ performance, as the input through the teacher will surely reflect in the final result seen in students’ performance in public examinations.
“While monitoring schools across all LGAs in the State, I noticed we do not have enough ECDs. This is disheartening. But be rest assured that the Seyi Makinde led administration would rectify these anomalies. We will ensure training for all pre-primary teachers and we will increase the ECD centres”, he ascertained.
Dr. Adeniran noted that state-wide enactment of Early Childhood Development Centres will help the Governor Seyi Makinde led administration realize the desired paradigm shift in the education sector.
He therefore pledged the State Government’s readiness to harness the early childhood development and training-the-trainer initiatives for a superlative transformation of the sector.
Dr. Adeniran also thanked the team for contributing its quota to the educational development of both teachers and pupils which he said has helped birthed the initiative in Oyo State.
In her words, Mrs. Patricia Eno Falope noted that Oyo State is the only South-West state that has keyed into this initiative, expressing her assurance for the vibrant running of the pilot study.
She disclosed that the initiative has study partners such as Ryerson University and ECDI, Canada, while Oyo State Government through the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), National Commission for Colleges of Education, University of Ibadan and UBEC were partners in the initiative.
She further revealed that the development initiative already had 24 pre- primary school teachers undergoing training in Ogbomosho North and Ido Local Government, while 271 pupils were benefiting from these pilot study.
The three-year long study was targeted at measuring the impact of play-based learning on children’s educational outcomes from pre-primary to primary two in public primary schools in the State.
