The United Nations
Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) has commended Rivers State Government (RSG) for its numerous achievements in the education sector.
UNITAR’s programme manager in Nigeria, Dr Minimah Edmundson, stated this last week during a courtesy visit to the State Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi in her office in Port Harcourt.
Dr Edmundson said the rebuilding and upgrading of the infrastructure in schools and introduction of ICT are all steps in the right direction.
He noted that the elaborate training and upgrading of the teachers in the preparation and delivery of lessons in line with approved curricula at the different levels has been yielding positive results.
The UNITAR’s programme manager recommended the introduction of monitoring and evaluation for efficient education system (EES).
According to him, EES is a computer-based system that uses current information technology to provide modern solutions that would be needed to establish educational infrastructure that will empower teachers to work efficiently and effectively.
The mode of its operations include Biometric Clock-in devices which eliminates ghost teachers, falsification of signing attended on note books, signing attendance by Proxy, artificial truancy, and cover-ups by the administrative heads,” he said.
Edmundson noted that the system will create an online lesson prep for teachers, explaining that the lesson prep is a centralised school-wide application that provides teachers and administrators capacity to post and review lesson notes online.
“Teachers through this medium can view their personal devices”, he said.
He added that teachers are better prepared through lesson feedback that can be easily posted and viewed in advance of executing their lessons.
While responding, the Commissioner for Education, Dame Lawrence-Nemi, said the state government under the leadership of Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has invested so much in the education sector and infrastructural development in the state.
She hinted that the state is now working on sustaining the already built infrastructure in the state by presenting the ministry’s three year education sector plan, while also assuring that the state would partner with UNITAR in ensuring adequate monitoring and evaluation for efficient education system in the state.
The commissioner, however, stated that the teachers in the state are very committed and dedicated to their duties, noting that “our teachers now wait for pupils and students to come to class.