EdoBEST 3rd Year Results Report

Basic Education is our first interaction with

Basic Education is our first interaction with

Basic Education is our first interaction with

“The social, economic and security challenges confronting many African countries are linked to illiteracy and the absence of quality education for a majority of the population. Despite much talk and significant political and financial resources directed towards education across Africa, the challenge remains across our continent due to a disjointed approach to system transformation. This has resulted in a significant learning deficit for children at all levels; leading to continuing poverty; instability and migration across the region.

My administration launched EdoBEST to deliver holistic transformation to our basic education sector. We wanted to truly diagnose the challenges and reach the core issues of accountability; professional development and technological access, addressing them at source. EdoBEST was designed to target specific areas of governance and our education institutions, community participation, leadership, teacher and curriculum development, and not just infrastructure as has often been the case.

I am elated that only 3 years into the programme, and in spite of Covid-19 and school closures, our radical approach to education reform, focused on sustainable long-term education gains has recorded significant progress on our education systems and support is leading to improved learning gains for our pupils.

Our pupils in EdoBEST are learning much more and at a rate similar to more developed countries. We are reaching global education standards in just 3 years.

Studies show that Edo State has accelerated reading fluency for our children to 70% that of High-Income Countries, compared to less than 30% for Nigeria and other low and middle- income countries globally.” These results are remarkable and demonstrate that we are on the path to global competitiveness. I look forward to more learning gains in the coming years and thank everyone who has contributed to the success of EdoBEST so far.

Governor Godwin Obaseki Executive Governor, Edo State

Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe Executive Chairman Edo State Universal Basic Education Board

We have been determined from the inception of the Obaseki administration to transform the fortunes of Edo State through education. To bring about the desired effect, we studied the situation and engaged across board to identify what exactly we needed to do for education improvement in Edo State. Our commitment and dedication birthed the EdoBEST project and its objective to deliver the far-reaching positive change in learning impact.

A key ingredient of EdoBEST’s progress is teacher growth and development, at the center of our success is our teachers and their ability to succeed when empowered to do so. Equally critical has been the changes we have made within ourselves, Edo SUBEB has undergone a transformation itself to deliver the needed change through EdoBEST. We went far beyond providing infrastructural facilities, SUBEB underwent major organizational restructuring centrally and across our 18 LGEA to ensure we delivered the right level of support and governance structures to drive the desired sustained learning improvement.

We are proud of how far we have come with EdoBEST; our results have not gone unnoticed by parents throughout Edo State. Public trust in the public education system is now at an all-time high, we recorded a 20% increase in public school enrollment in three years due to the EdoBEST program. My heartfelt appreciation to the SUBEB Board Members, Directors, SUBEB staff, the 18 Education Secretaries of the local government education authorities, head teachers, teachers and school-based management committee members for three years of Hard work and commitment. I say good job you!

Introduction:

EdoBEST is a holistic basic education sector transformation program aimed at increasing learning gains. It is an adaptive program that leverages learning to continuously drive school and system level improvements in order to create an enabling environment for pupil learning and development. Since its launch in 2018 the program has yielded tremendous gains These gains cut across the three thematic areas of Access, Quality and Systems strengthening.

In the areas of quality and system strengthening, the growth in the last three years has radically transformed the culture of classrooms across the state. Policies such as 'No Corporal Punishment'' have been implemented, lesson plans have been digitized, professional development has been provided to 11,356 school staff and ongoing capacity development has been given to education managers. Teachers have been upskilled to employ childcentered pedagogical approaches, to use positive classroom management techniques, to leverage technology and to give pupils clear feedback.

This shift in classroom culture has been bolstered by improvements in infrastructure. Significantly more pupils now have schools that are more conducive for learning. Across the state 9,632 classrooms have been renovated, 204 classrooms have been constructed, 37,629 pupil desks and

chairs have been distributed and 32 fences have been constructed. This has taken place at the ECCDE and primary school level. As part of the infrastructure improvement plans, the state has also created 95 water sources, 1,119 toilets, 122,152,43 square meters of roofing, 105,725 square meters of floor tile and playgrounds. Schools have also been equipped with over 11 million instructional materials including exams, textbooks, posters, homework books, flash cards and supplementary literacy remediation books.

Other key accomplishments in the area of Quality include the work that SUBEB has done to embed the practice of using data to drive decision making. This critical achievement has been enabled by the digitization of records for all teachers, headmasters and pupils. The state now has the ability to track attendance, the percentage of lessons that teachers are delivering on a daily basis, pupil assessment data, quality assurance data and more via a real-time dashboard and timely reports. Together improvements in quality, systems strengthening and access have led to gains in learning.

Celebrating 3 years of EdoBEST:

● January 2017 Workshop to discuss the challenges facing education and possible State solutions held by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

● June 2017 State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) restructuring to ensure organizational efficiency and productivity.

● November 2017 Statewide school census conducted to identify and authenticate the status of public school facilities; to know enrolment and attendance of public school pupils by gender; to know the number and status of public school teachers; and to provide a basis for future action in the education system within Edo state.

● February 2018 Pupil learning diagnostics conducted in a sample of schools across the state in urban, semi-urban and rural communities.

● March 2018 SUBEB called for government teachers to volunteer to participate in the program.

● April 2018 EdoBEST formally launched, and development of the scope of work to address the state wide intervention completed (aka Birthing the 5 Pillars). Pilot Phase launched with 1500 teachers and head teachers trained on the essentials of effective classroom teaching and equipped with tablets & smartphones, evidence based academic content, & positive classroom management techniques.

● May 2018 The IFC visits EdoBEST to learn about the transformation taking place in the basic education sector.

● July 2018 The first Open Day held. This is an opportunity for parents to come to have one on one meetings with their child’s teacher to discuss their academic and social-emotional development. It now takes place twice a term.

● September 2018 SUBEB Capacity development plan implemented over 104 Teachers trained as social mobilization officers to visit and educate parents, community about EdoBEST, 5 teachers trained as Quality Assurance officers to provide in field oversight of procedural operational requirements and 54 teachersTrained as Learning and Development Supervisors to provide in-field teacher and head teacher coaching and professional development support.

● November 2018 11,689 SBMC members are trained.

● January 2019 234 School buildings designated for extensive renovations. Water facilities, toilet, playground, furniture and security fences erected.

● February 2019 A senior delegation from Rwanda visits to learn more about EdoBEST.

● April 2019 EdoBEST Cross-Age Ability Grouping Program, an education intervention first at a state wide level launched. Stakeholder forum held to discuss the genesis of the program and the potential benefits to be had. Training program developed to onboard ~11,000 teachers. This program which focused on English, Mathematics, Writing and Critical thinking continued through December 2019.

● June 2019 A senior delegation from Sierra Leone visited to understudy the program.

● July 2019 A high-level team from Ekiti SUBEB came to observe the transformation taking place in Basic Education in Edo State.

● October 2019 Members of Ondo SUBEB visit to learn more about EdoBEST and consider next steps for their state.

● November 2019 A senior delegation from Lagos State MOE and SUBEB visits to understudy the program.

● December 2019 A team from the Finland government visits Edo State to learn.

● January 2020 Korea’s Official Development Assistance (KOICA) visits the state to determine whether Edo State would join their “Model Smart School” Program. Edo State was selected for the program.

● April 2020 EdoBEST@Home is launched to ensure that pupils can continue learning from home in face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

● October 2020 In-person Schooling Reopens and the pupils are immersed in an intensive catch-up plan designed to cover key topics from the term when schools were closed as well as critical objectives for the first term of this academic session.

● March 2021 The new cohort of 18 Education Secretaries are appointed following a rigorous selection process.

1

Systems Strengthening and Organizational Developmen t

Pillar 1 is aimed at strengthening the governance structures, financial management systems and workforce capacity of Edo SUBEB.

Results: Digitization of Records

Online Profile: An online profile has been created for every teacher, headteacher and pupil in the EdoBEST program. Core details include;

● school information

● staff details

● staff metrics, such as attendance and lesson delivery

● pupil details

● pupil metrics, such as attendance and assessment records

● device monitoring and health

Objectives:

● Establish sustainable, functional evidence-based quality planning, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation systems to facilitate inclusive quality basic education provision in Edo State.

● Establish result-focused, transparent and accountable financial management and procurement processes and practices for efficient and effective utilization of basic education resources.

● Develop governance, management and operational capacities and efficiency of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the 18 Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) for improved basic education service delivery.

● Establish an accountable and service-oriented culture and work ethics in Edo State SUBEB and the 18 LGEAs.

● pupil pictures

With this online profile, the number of teachers and pupils in every school at any given time can be used for adequate planning, budgeting and monitoring activities like textbooks distribution, exam materials distribution, attendance monitoring, and more.

A Strengthened SUBEB and LGEA Workforce

There has been organizational planning and repositioning of the entire SUBEB structure to clarify mandates of the respective departments, to enable delegation of duties, service provision responsibilities and accountabilities. This has been paired with general and functional training that has significantly improved education management. Recently the results in this area have been compounded by the appointment of a new cohort of Education Secretaries who took part

in a rigorous selection process that included an interview with a senior selection committee.

Structured School Monitoring and Support

A vibrant team of field teams visit schools daily to provide on the job training, quality assurance and community engagement. This team of approximately 300 field officers is growing and they all must pass through All of these field officers passed through a competency based selection process with a 75% passmark or above.

An Enabling Working Environment

The SUBEB office has been fully renovated. Key features of the renovation include:

● New Furniture and Supplies (Desks, Chairs, air conditioners, a functioning lift and more)

● Investments in Technology (computers which have all been connected to the 5G Edo State wifi network, wide-screen televisions have been mounted in conference rooms, intercom systems have been installed in all offices and more)

● Constant Power - the office has been connected to the Ossiomo Power Plant

● Recreation Facilities

Teachers Professional Development and Quality Assurance

Pillar 2 is aimed at ensuring that teacher and head teacher capacity is both strengthened and supported to deliver the best. Teachers in Edo State come in with experience in both teaching and managing classrooms. EdoSTAR builds upon this experience and deepens both ownership and leadership in their classrooms as well as empowering Head Teachers to be the CEOs of their schools. Pillar 2 also promotes the establishment and operation of a strong quality assurance system to maintain standards across all schools.

Objectives:

1. Develop a cost-effective professional development, management and support system to ensure teacher and headteacher adequacy, competence and effectiveness for inclusive basic education provision in Edo State.

2. Ensure availability and adequacy of necessary and appropriate resource materials to facilitate quality teaching and learning in all basic schools.

3. Conduct an enumeration census of the number and status of public school teachers and create a model to recruit young and vibrant teachers to replace retired teachers.

4. Establish a QA system to drive the achievement and sustenance of quality standards in all State basic schools.

Results:

● 11,356 Teachers and HMs have been trained

● Empowering Head Teachers

● The EdoBEST Head Teacher training is designed to empower school leaders with the leadership skills, mindset, tools and technology to drive their school to academic excellence. It instills a sense of ownership and accountability towards pupil learning and overall school health in all Head Teachers. It has a strong focus on leadership development and equips each Head Teacher with effective techniques on decision making, critical thinking, and motivating leadership. There is also a deep focus on skill development and supporting their staff. Head Teachers are provided with training on how to become strong instructional coaches for their teachers, via teacher observation and feedback. Additionally, they are introduced to strategies to energize their team around the mission of their schools and education in Edo state.

lead transformation in their classes, and empower pupils to perform to their fullest potential. It develops teachers’ teaching skills, knowledge and mindsets, making them confident leaders of their classrooms.

● The EdoBEST training exposes teachers to innovative, evidencebased methods in teaching.

● Teachers are prepared to teach interactive lessons, lead small groups and 1:1 instruction, and introduce techniques on providing clear pupil feedback, checking pupil understanding.

● They are also trained on ways to imbibe positive classroom management procedures to effectively drive learning outcomes.

All of these techniques are drawn from best practices and research on highly effective teachers around the world. Critically, teachers undergo several hours of practicing these new teaching techniques, while receiving 1:1 feedback from expert trainers and their peers. Teachers practice teaching in front of their peers and their expert trainers in a simulated classroom environment.

replaced by consequences to manage pupil behavior.

● Use of Character Boards which publicly recognize pupil academic achievement (Best in Math, Best in English) and social behaviors (Punctuality, Respect For - Self, Others, School).

● Recognising pupils for good behaviour and effort motivates them to continue their positive behaviour, and motivates other pupils to achieve the same.

Continuous Professional Development

Teachers and head teachers receive continuous professional development in their schools through consistent on the job coaching and mentoring. Learning and Development Officers regularly spot areas of improvement for each teacher, set SMART goals for such teachers and monitor their improvement. Furthermore, teachers and head teachers are provided with end of day training in their schools to effectively bridge knowledge gaps where necessary.

Digital Quality Assurance Processes

Improved Classroom Culture

● EdoBEST Teachers now utilise classroom behaviour management techniques that are creating significantly more positive learning environments:

Strengthening Teachers

The EdoBEST Teacher Training ensures that teachers are well supported with the skills and knowledge required to

● Positive reinforcement of pupil actions through use of cheers and energizers.

● Elimination of use of corporal punishment in the classroom,

Quality Assurance Officers are the eyes and ears of SUBEB. They ensure schools are compliant with procedural operational requirements and provide valuable insights into critical operational issues based on school visit observations. The rapid digitization and communication processes that they use have enabled SUBEB and other stakeholders to make real-time decisions that have positively enhanced the basic education system.

Curriculum Development and Learning Outcomes

Dramatic Gains in Reading Fluency

Objectives:

1. Enrolment and attendance of public school pupils by gender.

2. Conduct diagnostics (academic testing) for all pupils to determine their academic proficiency level.

3. Digitise the curriculum for learning activities.

The focus of Pillar 3 is on driving learning outcomes for all pupils across the state. To deliver quality service to pupils across the state, pillar 3 ensures that all needed learning materials are available in schools and leveraged by teachers.

4. Ensure high lesson completion and learning outcomes in all schools.

5. Distribute learning and exam materials to schools.

In English, the average pupil did not know all of the letter names and had difficulty using phonics to sound out words. On average primary 4 pupils could read 36 words in a minute and correctly answer an average of 19% of the reading comprehension questions.

In Mathematics, 20% of pupils could not identify numbers or could only identify single-digit numbers.

If a pupil correctly answered a computation question, a simple onedigit addition or subtraction question (2+2 or 5-4).

Results: Data Driven Academic Planning

Prior to the start of EdoBEST in February 2018, diagnostics in English and Mathematics were conducted in a sample of urban, rural and peri-urban communities across the state. The diagnostics started at the foundation level and moved up to topics that were more and more advanced.

● The English diagnostic included phonics (reading & writing an alphabet word), reading short words, reading a passage and answering questions.

● The Math diagnostic started with identifying numbers and moved to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

On average, pupils began to struggle when attempting double-digit addition or subtraction and could not correctly answer any multiplication or division questions (11+13, 5*4 or 7/7).

This data highlighted the need for an increased focus on closing gaps in foundational literacy and numeracy while also ensuring that the full Nigerian curriculum was covered.

Organized and Timely Instructional Material Delivery

Since the inception of the EdoBEST program, over 2 million instructional materials and 9.7 million exam materials have been distributed to schools across the state. These materials are printed by local printers and publishers. Following this they are centrally kitted and distributed directly to schools and LGEA offices. All materials are tracked and verified throughout the process to ensure that the state have an accurate record of exactly how many copies of each title are available in each school.

quantitative reasoning, etc. Answer keys for each assessment were available for parents, guardians or older siblings to provide feedback.

● Interactive Mobile Quizzes: Short practical quizzes in key subjects like Mathematics, English, Sciences and Social Science were created for pupils to test their capabilities. Pupils The quizzes were accessed on WhatsApp by sending 0 to the approved phone number.

● Interactive Audio Lessons: Welltailored daily lessons and other classroom learning activities were converted to audio format for the pupils to access.

Maximizing Learning Gains in the Face of COVID-19

The EdoBEST@Home was born out of the need to ensure continuity in learning amidst the closure of schools due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It is based on the childcentred and scientific approach of the EdoBEST program and leverages the SUBEB website and virtual learning classrooms via WhatsApp. In addition to providing daily lessons that are designed to be delivered by a parent or other adult, EdoBEST@ Home provides:

Self-Study Activity Packets: These are digital self-study activity packets created for all class grade levels across subjects like verbal reasoning,

● Educational Digital Storybooks: Digital Storybooks for children of each age group were distributed digitally online and through the WhatsApp Groups.

Mobile Friendly Quizzes

Community Engagement and Partnerships

Pillar 4 is aimed at strengthening and leveraging the relationship between community stakeholders and our schools.

Objectives:

1. Build capacity of Edo SUBEB and the 18 LGEAs for effective social mobilization for enhanced communities and civil society support to basic school improvement.

2. Strengthen community, civil society and private sector collaboration and partnerships with government to improve basic education services and provision in Edo State.

3. Establish effective functional School-based Management Committees (SBMCs) to enhance community participation and support to improve basic education delivery in the State.

SMBCs have improved Synergy between Schools and Communities

The School-based Management Committee (SBMC) network has been developed to foster community engagements with schools, education authorities and contractors. They also encourage parents and guardians to attend Open Day to learn about their pupils’ academic and developmental growth.

Results: Empowering Local Businesses

All school construction and renovation projects have been contracted to indigenous contractors. This was done to strengthen local businesses and promote accountability. SUBEB has also partnered with local civil society groups, media houses, private companies and well-meaning individuals to further push and improve the basic education services delivered through the EdoBEST program. Some results gained from these partnerships have included the support of co-curricular activities and renovation of schools.

Thus far, over 11,000 SBMC members have been trained and now oversee the operations of schools within their communities. As SBMC members, they put structures in place to ensure the safety of school facilities when schools are closed. Additionally, when contractors are assigned, they supervise their operations and ensure that standards are met.

School Infrastructure and Facilities

Pillar 5 is aimed at creating a conducive learning environment for pupils and school staff.

Objectives:

1. Establish sustainable, cost-effective and result-focused transparent tender and procurement processes and practices for the Edo State Basic Education subsector.

2. Develop and institutionalize an effective, equitable project delivery and management system to facilitate adequate infrastructure and facilities for inclusive quality basic education provision in Edo State.

3. Institutionalize good maintenance culture for school infrastructure and facilities with community involvement.

Results: Improved Procurement System

Edo SUBEB has developed an ethical, reliable and more effective procurement system by adhering to the established procurement processes by the Edo State Public Procurement Agency (EDPPA) and creating an opportunity for all to compete. The aim of this improved system is to ensure that there is an open and transparent process characterized by equity and accountability for all. This focus has encouraged open and fair competition, efficiency, and overall reliability of procurement in Edo SUBEB.

Structures to Encourage a Good Maintenance Culture in Schools

To ensure the sustainability of achievements made, structures were set up with field officers providing supervisory support. For example, as part of their daily monitoring activities quality assurance officers assess the cleanliness of the school environment. This information is reported out to schools and LGEA staff on a weekly basis. This practice alone has created an opportunity to celebrate schools that are maintaining their facilities and raise concern around those that are not. Overall this practice has contributed to an increase in the number of schools that have clean and organized learning environments.

EdoBEST is Working!

“Before, some of the children didn’t have the zeal to learn. But now because of the introduction of the character board and the kind of cheers we sing, they started exhibiting this kind of zeal to participate in lessons.”

Teacher Gift Agho, Omoemu PS

“Since the introduction of Edo-BEST, I am proud to say I have seen the difference in my class. Some of the children who could not read and write before are reading and writing, and It has even extended past reading and writing. The Edo-BEST pedagogy has improved the vocabulary of the teachers and pupils. Teachers end up learning new words and new things especially when preparing for the class and the children learn the new words because when they see it in their books, they say “teacher what does that mean” Edo-BEST has really helped the way children learn.”

Teacher Vivian Iguisi

“The use of the teacher computer has helped in all ramifications, both at home and in school. I can now manage my time well. I am proud to say I am a digital teacher. We don’t have to write lesson notes. All we have to do is come to class, disseminate the notes to the children and we can see that they are happy to learn and makes them want to learn more.”

Teacher Patience Ehondor, Iheya PS.

“I Have found administration so easy with the use of this smartphone. I am able to monitor teachers’ arrival and depature to school. I can also monitor the progress of the teacher's lesson delivery through my long and short observations. So many things have been built into the smartphone that makes administration easy for me. All of this has helped our school because now, the Edo-BEST initiative has led to a rise in enrolment. We have pupils coming into public schools regularly.”

Edo-BEST has tried for me oh. Before Edo-BEST, it was a struggle to get my teachers to come to school and stay in school. Before, they would just call me, “Headteacher my mummy is sick, I can’t come in” and they would just hang up. Now because of the Edo-BEST syncing, my teachers know it is not me that reports their absenteeism. The computer records it directly. Now teacher absenteeism has reduced significantly. In fact, it rarely happens now and even my teachers have a better relationship with me now.”

Mrs, Justina Ehijiagbone, Headteacher.

Headteacher Josephine Iremiren, Iheya PS.

“I commot my pikin from the private school where I dey take am before from KG to Primary 1, because she no fit read and write on top all the plenty money way I don spend. But I say make I carry her go government school so I no go dey too waste money. When I bring am come Agboghidi Primary School, where dem do Edo-BEST, within 1 term I dey see her note where she dey read and write now. I’m so surprised.”

Mrs Eunice Ogbede, Agboghidi PS, Benin City.

“I own a shop and my son could not give change or count money before, but since they introduced this Edo-BEST, now my son can count money and he will give the customer change. The customer will argue that he collected the wrong change, but when I would check, I would see that my son was right. I am so glad with the improvement I’m seeing.”

Mrs Imade Osagie, Oba Ewuare PS.