The Lagos Government has revealed plans to increase the number of Comprehensive Schools across the State from the initial pilot of 12 schools to 50 by September to demonstrate commitment and huge investment of the government in equipping Lagos State school students to be self-reliant and skilled while in secondary school.
Disclosing this at the sensitization of stakeholders on Lagos State Comprehensive School Programme held at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo stated that the Comprehensive School Programme which commenced in February is poised to reduce the rate of dropout in schools as some students are disconnected with the usual academic curriculum but prefer to learn various skills.
She emphasised that this programme will give them equal opportunities to explore their interest and train them to mastery level.
Mrs. Adefisayo explained to stakeholders comprising of school principals, school support and education quality assurance officers across the State on the importance of integrating comprehensive school programme to the school curriculum.
‘’We discovered and observed that out of every 10 students admitted to JS1 only three make it to SS3, while only one student will eventually excel at the transition exam’’ she further stressed that this has resulted to an increase in student dropouts in Lagos State.
According to the Commissioner, the State Government has established partnership with private and International institutions for training, internship opportunities and employment prospects for the students.
An MOU was recently signed by the Lagos State Government and City of Tampere in Finland. “Already plans are on-going for some of the teachers to travel to Finland to understudy a similar system that operates in that country”, She added.
In her words, “The students will be given a mobile tablet preloaded with their curriculum and starter kits to explore their desired and acquired skills, also the best 3 students will be sponsored to Finland for more training and exposure”
The Commissioner commended school principals for the highly impressive results in the last WASSCE stressing that the performance of students with a minimum of 5 credits including Mathematics and English has improved from 38.79% in 2020 to 79.64% in 2021.
Adefisayo encouraged the principals for more positive results as the huge investment by the government is evident in all schools across the State.
In a welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Abayomi Abolaji canvassed for commitment of stakeholders for the success of the programme.
He noted that the State Government has equipped the pilot schools with the various infrastructure needed to actualize the newly established programme.
The Permanent Secretary disclosed that the Lagos State Comprehensive School Programme has broad subject categories which include skills training on Agriculture, Tech& Digital Skills, Beauty and Events, Building & Construction, Media &Entertainment, Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing& Sales, Digital Literacy.
The event also had the attendance of Executive Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King, Tutor General Permanent Secretaries of Education Districts; Mrs. Titilayo Solarin, District 1, Mr. Jokotola Sunday, District IV, Mr. Olajide Charles, District V, Mrs. Okelola Oludara, District VI and other Education Management Team and Stakeholders.
