Governor Godwin Obaseki on Sunday said his administration had transformed the state’s education sector through several interventions and initiatives.

The governor spoke with journalists in Lagos and said his government had used technology, especially the use of e-learning, to make the sector better.

According to him, the government has procured and distributed teaching tablets to all instructors to enhance learning outcomes.

Mr Obaseki, who bagged the 2024 Digital Governor of the Year (Public Sector Automation) by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), said much could be achieved in all sectors through digitisation.

He said his government had shown huge commitment to sustaining its technology-driven transformation in education.

Mr Obaseki emphasised the important roles of teachers in driving the transformative impact of technology in education, stating that his administration had reduced the rate of absenteeism.

“If a society is going to digitise, it starts from the government. Right now, in Edo, our teachers cannot teach without digital devices. Each teacher in Edo has a tablet,” he said.

Mr Obaseki said the EdoBEST initiative had earned the state national and international acclaim for its innovative approach to education.

Stating the reason for EdoBEST, the governor said that when he came in 2016, one of the biggest issues confronting the state was human trafficking and illegal migration.

According to him, In February 2017, the International Office on Migration reported that there were over 30,000 Edo boys and girls in Libya trying to cross.

He said the government discovered that poor education was the root cross of the migration,

“There was so much absenteeism. The teachers were recruited politically. And once we started, we changed the pedagogy- the way we teach the children in schools. No corporal punishment; we are talking about almost 400,000 children,” he said.

Mr Obaseki noted that he had just come back to the country on Friday from the Global Partnership on Education, a side event of the World Bank, to share the experience of what the state had done in the education sector.

“They are countries that have been nominated as accelerator countries in education, countries who are partnering in education reform globally, about eight or nine countries.

“Edo is the only sub-national on that list, like a proxy for Nigeria,” he said.

The governor said children were no longer dropping out of school “because once we catch them from primary one, we are holding them until JSS three, so you are not dropping out.”

On healthcare, Mr Obasekinoted that the Edo Health Insurance Scheme had been devoted to making health care more accessible and said, “the biggest issue about healthcare today in Nigeria is cost.”

“Today, we have one of the largest state insurance schemes in the country. We have almost 350,000 enrollees,” he said.

He said the state had the Primary Health Care Development Agency, which is no longer within the total control of the local government.

“It is autonomous; we train them. The local government pays 60 per cent; the state pays 40 per cent to maintain that agency,” he said.

On agricultural development, Mr Obaseki, who described agriculture as a very risky business, said the government should try and help farmers reduce their risks.

Mr Obaseki attributed the state’s strides in agriculture to providing an enabling environment for farming to boost food production and the local economy.

He urged the government at all levels to support farming instead of going into it.

Mr Obaseki will hand over to the governor .- elect, Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on November 11, following his victory in the September 21 governorship election.

(NAN)