The government of Edo State in south Nigeria has launched a major education reform programme to improve all primary and junior secondary schools in the region. The EdoBEST (Basic Education Sector Transformation) initiative will transform learning for around 300,000 children in 1,500 schools over the next four years.

On 10th October, at a ceremony in Benin City, the capital of Edo, 7,000 government teachers will graduate from the EdoBEST programme and mark the public launch of the initiative. So far the scheme has reached 612 schools and around 150,000 children.

In Edo State 60% of the population live below the poverty line. The Governor of Edo, Godwin Obaseki, has a vision to use better education as a driver for economic growth and higher living standards for the eight million people who live in Edo.

EdoBEST is an comprehensive programme to develop state education across five pillars of work: governance, teacher training and development, community partnerships, infrastructure, and the local education board. Bridge is partnering with the Government to support teacher training and development (Pillar 2), helping to boost the capability of all Edo government teachers.

Bridge is working as the technical partner on the STAR (Supporting Teachers to Achieve Results) component of EdoBEST. The social enterprise is focussed on enhancing teacher effectiveness through a training programme that leverages technology and empowers teachers to improve children’s learning. Through intensive training, ongoing support, teacher guides, positive classroom management techniques and real-time monitoring of lessons, Bridge is making classrooms more effective and bringing technical experience to the Governor’s vision.

Governor Godwin Obaseki said the programme will, “develop a highly-skilled teaching workforce by training, supporting and motivating Edo State teachers to succeed in the classroom of tomorrow, empowering our children to compete effectively in the world of work.” He also commented that the programme will: “leapfrog the basic education delivery systems by leveraging technology to gather and utilise accurate and timely data to drive policy and planning decisions.”

Olu Babalola, Head of Bridge Nigeria, said: “Bridge is proud to be supporting the governor of Edo State to realise his vision of a radically better education system that is free for all children in primary and lower secondary. We’re excited to be helping local government teachers embrace new and better teaching techniques, potentially transforming learning outcomes for their pupils.”

Adesuwa Ifedi, Bridge VP of Policy and Partnerships in Africa, said: “This partnership shows how Bridge can support government teachers to deliver at their very best. Teachers are critical to Africa’s transformation. We are excited to have the opportunity to champion tech-enabled teaching in Edo State. This work will strengthen local state teachers to rise to the challenge of really inspiring and equipping over 300,000 children with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in tomorrow’s economy. We hope that EdoBEST will demonstrate to education leaders in Africa that technology can be scaled affordably to achieve significant impact in all schools for all children.”

Bridge is a social enterprise that already works in Lagos, Osun and Borno States in Nigeria providing transformational learning opportunities. The organisation has experience training and supporting local teachers across Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and India. The organisation currently serves hundreds of thousands of children across Asia and Africa.

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Notes to Editors

EdoBEST is run by the SUBEB (State Universal Basic Education Board). For more information about the EdoBEST programme visit http://subeb.edostate.gov.ng/

For more information on Bridge involvement please contact:

Press Office +44 (0)20 3813 8236 Media@BridgeInternationalAcademies.com

About Bridge International Academies

Bridge believes every child has the right to high quality education and works in partnership with governments, communities, parents and teachers to deliver or improve learning.

Bridge leverages in-depth teacher training and support, advanced lesson plans and wireless technology to provide pupils with a meaningful and life-changing education.

Globally, there is an education crisis. Around 263 million children and young people are not in school and the number of primary school aged children not in school is increasing. Bridge is committed to helping tackle this through a data driven, evidence based approach that delivers strong schools and a great education for all.