By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
NewGlobe Nigeria, an education expert and leader in learning, says there is need for those aspiring for leadership positions in the 2023 General Elections to, as priority, have achieveable plans to tackle learning poverty.
According to it, learning poverty, defined by the World Bank as the share of children who cannot read a simple story by age 10, is an urgent challenge in the present generation.
Mrs Omowale David-Ashiru, Group Managing Director of NewGlobe Nigeria, made the remark at a news conference on Thursday organised to showcase a Nobel Prize-Winning Prof. Michael Kremer’s glowing report on education methodology.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Study by the Nobel Prize laureate, finds and confirms that NewGlobe’s holistic methodology delivers among the largest ever measured in Africa, including Nigeria.
The findings were announced in a speech by Kremer to African Heads of State and Education Ministers, including UBEC and SUBEB leaders, at the Education World Forum, an annual event hosted in London by UK Government.
The event which was attended by no fewer than 100 countries had it’s theme for 2022 edition as: “Education building forward together, stronger, bolder, better”.
“As we approach the election season in Nigeria, those aspiring leadership positions should know that innovative education solutions that are proven to be effective at scale will define the key areas.
“These are prosperity, growth and security of our global future, which is most important for them to make it part of their plans and policies when they assume office.
“The groundbreaking study led by the Prize-Winning economist suggests that children living in underserved African communities can receive 53 per cent more learning in schools supported by Nigeria Government partnered by NewGlobe through the early childhood and primary schooling, through Grade 8.
“We are delighted that an independent study of this size has found such unequivocal evidence of the unrivaled learning gains NewGlobe’s holistic approach to teaching and learning delivery,” she said.
David-Ashiru noted that the data-driven scientific learning techniques that characterised the methodology were the blueprint for those used in all schools NewGlobe support in the states of Edo, Lagos and Kwara.
According to her, it shows that it is possible to deliver radical and immediate change for generation of children and that poverty isn’t destined for individuals or nation.
Students that started with the lowest learning levels gained the most, with girls making the same leap in learning as boys.
“It contrasts with research which shows girls in Sub-Saharan Africa are consistently disadvantaged in learning.
“The results are a resounding affirmation of NewGlobe’s integrated learning system across Africa, including Nigeria, and South Asia supporting more than a million children in schools and increasing every year.
“This study shows that attending schools delivering highly standardised education has the potential to produce dramatic learning gains at scale.
“This suggesting that policymakers may wish to explore incorporation of standardisation, including standardised lesson plans and teacher feedback and monitoring, in their own systems.” David-Ashiru added.
“NewGlobe is positioned to support government to achieve improved learning in national education system and employ new techniques and methodologies proven to yield better results for their children.
“Already the programme are being used in Nigeria – Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST), Lagos State – Excellence in Child Education and Learning (EKOEXCEL) and Learning Education Achievement and Reform Now (KwaraLEARN).
“EdoBEST, which started April 2018, is covering public primary and junior secondary including progressive schools in riverine areas, EKOEXCEL kicked off in January 2020, capturing all public primary schools, and KwaraLEARN flagged off in November 2021 plans to cover 16 LGA’s of the state.
“For early childhood students, two years of teaching using NewGlobe’s methods put them a year-and-a-half of additional learning ahead of students in other schools with learning levels increased by a remarkable 1.35 standard deviations.
“In NewGlobe-supported schools, 82 per cent of Grade 1 students, typically six to seven year olds, can read a sentence, compared with 27 per cent of those in other schools.”
She said that the results were by far, the most authoritative on the use of the model pioneered by NewGlobe.
It included individual and ongoing training and coaching for teachers on use of a digital learning platform with real time data analysis; teaching guides grounded in scientifically-based pedagogy; and a 360 support system.
NAN also reports that NewGlobe supports visionary governments to transform public education systems, deliver improvements in learning outcomes with a comprehensive system transformation platform and data-driven educational services.
The World Bank calls on the global community to cut by at least half the global rate of Learning Poverty, which is defined as the percentage of 10-year-old children who cannot read and understand a simple story, by 2030.
(NAN)