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Edo Govt To Raise Community Engagement, Extra-curricular Activities In Public Schools

Edo State Government will ramp up community engagement and extra-curricular activities in public schools across the state in 2021 as part of its renewed drive to consolidate on reforms in the basic education sector.

The Executive Chairman, Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Joan Osa Oviawe, made this known while addressing journalists in Benin City at the weekend.

She said the state government plans to improve literacy and numeracy skills among pupils in public schools.

“For    2021, we    are    setting    a     target     for     illiteracy     and     numeracy. Recently, we were   fortunate to be selected among the four other   countries who were adjudged to be accelerator countries.

“We   were the only state selected.  It was a World Bank and Bill Gates Foundation    initiative.    As    an    accelerator   country, we   have   been identified as one of the four places in Africa where we are trying to eradicate learning poverty.

“Learning      poverty      means      a   child   of   10   years   that   is   supposed to know how to read, but doesn’t know how to read. So, in 2021, our goal is to strengthen community engagement around our schools.”

She added: “We also want parents to do their best and for communities to get   involved in our schools. In 2021, we want to strengthen our school-based    management committees, increase the number of people that are engaged academically and also roll out extra-curricular activities, such as inter-house sport, and introduce school clubs and excursions.”

Oviawe added, “Our goal is to have at least 98 per cent literacy rate in our public schools including among persons with special needs. So, our goal is for every Edo child to be able to read and write.”