This was disclosed by NewGlobe’s Vice President for Policy and Partnerships, Mrs Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, at the recent 2025 State-Level Workshop for Foundation Learning and Out-of-School Children held in Abuja. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum organised the event in partnership with the NewGlobe.

The workshop was convened against the backdrop of a deepening crisis in Nigeria’s basic education sector, where over 10 million children remain out of school, the highest figure globally, according to UNICEF, and three out of four cannot read and understand a simple passage by age 10, as reported by the World Bank.

Despite increasing enrolments, many pupils leave school without mastering foundational skills. Discussions at the event identified the root causes as systemic: an undervalued teaching workforce, fragmented policy execution, chronic underfunding, and a misplaced emphasis on infrastructure rather than learning outcomes.

NewGlobe’s Vice President for Policy and Partnerships, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, reinforced the urgency of the moment. “If we do not act quickly and deliberately, we will be too late for millions of children,” she warned. Describing the situation as “a system-wide emergency,” she added, “The evidence is clear: with the right tools, training, and data, foundational learning outcomes can be transformed at scale. We’re supporting states to build resilient, future-ready education systems that deliver measurable results because Nigeria’s children deserve nothing less than a system that works for every learner.”

Presenting a model for transforming foundational education, NewGlobe highlighted its evidence-backed, data-driven, and technology-enabled solution as a trusted implementation partner to state governments.

The model focuses on strengthening public education from within, equipping teachers and school leaders with real-time digital tools, structured lesson guides, continuous coaching, and performance dashboards that ensure instructional quality and accountability.

NewGlobe’s holistic approach aligns with national curricula, promotes teacher confidence, and empowers states to drive measurable learning gains across thousands of classrooms.

State-led programmes in partnership with NewGlobe, including EKOEXCEL in Lagos, KwaraLEARN in Kwara, BayelsaPRIME, in Bayelsa, Edo, and JigawaUNITE, in Jigawa, have already delivered compelling outcomes.

In Bayelsa, literacy improved by 20 percentage points in just nineteen weeks, and enrolment surged from 25,000 to over 40,000 pupils.

In Kwara, foundational literacy and numeracy deficiencies were halved in under two years, with over 60,000 additional pupils enrolled.

Lagos, once lagging in education outcomes, now leads with one of the country’s lowest learning deprivation rates. Independent evaluations confirm that students in NewGlobe-supported schools achieve learning gains up to 53% higher than peers in conventional schools.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the governor of Kwara State, in a speech delivered by NGF Education Advisor Leo The Great, stressed that improving access alone is not enough. “Access does not equal learning.

Many children sit in classrooms but leave unable to read, write, or do basic arithmetic. The priority is not more schools, but ensuring every child is truly learning. In 2025, we should have daily visibility into every public school.” Citing success in states like Kwara, Edo, Bayelsa, Lagos, and Jigawa, he added, “Structured pedagogy is working. In such schools, teacher feedback has increased by over 200 percent. That’s real behaviour change.”

Also, speaking at the event, Aisha Garba, UBEC executive secretary called for unified action, stating, “We are here to work for one client, the Nigerian child.”

She urged stakeholders to “align with our agenda, not run parallel systems,” adding that “access remains our biggest challenge,” and the intervention fund must “respond to real needs, not just check boxes for classrooms.”

“At NewGlobe, our mission is clear: to bridge foundational learning gaps and help build future-ready education systems that truly serve Nigeria’s children. We are proud of the progress achieved with our current state partners, but the need is national. We are ready to support more states committed to transforming learning outcomes, because the future of our young people depends on the quality of education they receive today,” added Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu.

NewGlobe is a trusted, evidence-backed partner for state-led foundational learning reforms in Nigeria, focused on strengthening public education systems from within.

Its science- and data-driven approach combines advanced pedagogy, detailed lesson planning, and real-time data to track progress and guide strategy.

By working closely with state governments and stakeholders, such as FGN and UBEC, NewGlobe ensures alignment with national priorities and supports scalable, sustainable reforms across the country.

As Nigeria grapples with the urgent challenge of learning poverty and an ever-growing number of out-of-school children, the workshop reaffirmed that systemic transformation is not only possible, it is already underway.

With political will, NewGlobe’s data-driven solutions, and collaborative implementation, a new era of public education is within reach.

The momentum built at this workshop signals a national commitment to ensure that every Nigerian child is not only in school but truly learning.

The teachers and headteacher completed a comprehensive 10-day Induction Training where they were taught to use technological devices to deliver life-changing lessons and education to students irrespective of location in Edo state.

They were formally recognised as “digital teachers” at a graduation ceremony at Edo State University Iyamoh, where the training was conducted.

Governor Godwin Obaseki launched EdoBEST in 2018 thereby introducing a wholescale basic education sector reform built on cutting-edge technology, human capital development and an improved curriculum.

Sixteen Thousand, five hundred (16,500) teachers and headteachers have do far received training, equipped with technology to radically improve teaching and learning in schools.

At present, teachers in the school system mark daily attendance, record students’ score and teach using teacher tablets which receive instructional materials from a central database daily.

“The most desirable outcome of any teacher training or any upskilling activity we carry out at the Board is that the learning outcomes of our students are significantly improved,” Mrs. Ozavize Salami, the Executive Chairman of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board, told excited teachers and headteachers at the graduation ceremony which took place on 14, January 2023.

Amidst chants of “teachers are great,” at the ceremony, Mrs Salami noted that “Your pupils are the reason you have this job. They are the reason you have been trained, the reason work tools have been made available to you; therefore, their welfare, their learning, their attendance, and their academic progress must be your top priority. Henceforth, teachers will be assessed and promoted based on the academic performance of their students and so you must ensure that you do extremely well to meet your KPIs and teaching objectives.”

With this training, Edo State, under His Excellency’s administration, has trained 16,500 teachers since 2018 (EdoBEST induction training alone).

The state government has fully disarticulated Junior Secondary schools and onboarded all 307 Junior Secondary schools into the EdoBEST programme and onboarded all 1,024 primary and progressive schools (including those located in riverine, rural and hard-to-reach areas).

Presently, all basic education teachers in Edo state are now digital and have tablets. Also, an additional 3,000 teachers recruited under the EdoSTAR fellows programme now use technology to deliver lessons on a daily basis.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony Emofonmwan Josephine, an EdoSTAR teacher from Etsako Central local government area noted that, “when I arrived for the training on the first day, I knew I was going to learn new things. But I can testify that my expectation was surpassed. I am going back reinvigorated and with a can-do attitude to make my classroom vibrant and the children much better. This training has brought the best in me.”

“A revolutionary basic education reform programme, EdoBEST was launched by Governor Godwin Obaseki to revolutionise teaching and learning in Edo state. The programme has drastically upskilled teachers and improved learning outcomes among children in Edo state”.

The technology is so exact and interconnected that basic education sector managers know when a teacher is not in school, or when a teacher is not teaching in class. They are also aware of the group of teachers and pupils that need additional support throughout the academic year real time. These things are only possible because of technology.

The system run by Edo state was instituted to address challenges in the school system which could not be solved without resources to modern technology. Over the past four years, it has been strengthened to deliver more on its purpose.

Employing technology in education requires a synergy between all arms of administration to ensure the free flow of information and processes from the offices to the classrooms. Utilising this synergy is what EdoBEST has unlocked in the delivery of basic education services to schools in the state.

According to Governor Godwin Obaseki, “To rebuild any structure, you have to start from the base and the base of our educational system is basic education”. With this in mind, the governor instituted an education reform in the state leveraging technology at the basic education level. That reform is referred to as EdoBEST, which has been spread to the junior secondary school system.

Imagine a network of connected systems and levels of administration being synergised at all levels of learning with no hindrance to processes and delivery systems. What this means for education is seamless delivery of services ranging from teaching to supervision and school inspection and at this, EdoBEST is getting it right.

Walking into any EdoBEST school, several distinct features stand out, distinguishing the class from your regular classroom like the STRIVE points framework boldly written on the board serving as an interactive feature that helps capture a child’s attention. However, what immediately holds your attention is the green pouch housing the gold mine that is the teacher tablet.

Addressing the induction trainees at the induction graduation, the Executive Chairman of Edo SUBEB noted that “Government is taking the reform across the education sector so that Edo State can be the BEST in all aspects of education”. The programme has taken this up a notch by being the best in utilizing technology for educational advancement.

For Progressive Teacher Mrs. Patricia Onaiwu, a teacher at Ijieduma School, who prior to January 2022, had never used an EdoBEST teaching tool, the adoption of her school by the EdoBEST programme was a welcome development in increasing learning outcomes. Speaking on the importance of technology in teaching lessons, she noted that using the teacher tablet makes teaching easier. Confident in the use of the teacher tablet, she teaches her children efficiently thereby motivating them to learn.

The EdoBEST programme has infused the use of technology in ensuring the smooth delivery of education services in the state through the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board. The use of this technology has been applauded by reputable education stakeholders and has earned the programme the status of being the only sub-national programme under the World Bank Accelerator Programme.

No mean feat, the programme has continued to live up to the standard associated with world-class programmes as it continues to leverage technology in its service delivery. All its processes are now digitized taking its supervisory routine away from analogue to digital processes.

The programme has dedicated field officers who are responsible for ensuring that the processes run smoothly, leaving no room for errors. These field officers are divided into two groups; Learning and Development Officers who are concerned with ensuring the quality of learning content and Quality Assurance Officers tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the quality of learning in all EdoBEST schools.

In the first six months of 2022, 251 hi-tech tablets were given to Quality Assurance Officers (QAOs) and Learning and Development Officers (LDOs) to improve the quality of their reports, giving recommendations and data in real time.

The devices which were distributed to QAOs and LDOs will enhance their ability to monitor activities in schools, thereby ensuring that teaching and learning objectives are being met.

Amenaghawon Osaghede, a QAO from Oredo LGA explained that the shift towards digital operations in the EdoBEST programme will allow for efficiency and free flow of information allowing for real-time resolution.

She noted that “GPS placement will no longer be a problem. The device will help us support teachers and heads of schools with resolutions on-the-go whenever we encounter problems. The tablets will make work faster, make our reports authentic and work will go on without hindrances.”

Edo SUBEB continues to prioritise the delivery of quality education across the state. The board has designed and implemented a robust school supervisory system that is facilitating on-the-spot teacher support and routine teacher professional development to further boost learning outcomes among pupils.