The Lagos State Government said it seeks to improve its delivery on education and technology for the residents.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, said this during the third Public Policy Roundtable, with the theme “Accelerating Accountable and Responsive Governance through Education and Technology,” on Thursday in Ikeja.

The roundtable was at the instance of the Policy Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the Cabinet Office.

Ms Salu-Hundeyin was represented by Kehinde Gbajumo, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Government Office of the Secretary to the State Government Cabinet Office.

She said the roundtable aimed to analyse and evaluate the impact of government policies to ensure their objectives were achieved.

She stated, “The meeting aims to improve government policies and programmes, based on the recommendations and data analysed. Here we have people from the academia; we have people from the non-governmental organisations and other social groups to look at those programmes, to look at the outcomes based on the data we have received from the various ministries, departments & agencies (MDAs). They are to analyse it, evaluate it and come up with recommendations, which the MDAs can now go back and review those policies, continue with the implementation or devise new programmes and projects entirely, based on the outcomes of this roundtable.’’

The SSG said that the topic of the roundtable had a special focus on the third pillar of the THEMES+ Agenda – Education and Technology.

She said the roundtable was to facilitate the enlightenment of residents on government policy focus, activities and interventions.

Ms Salu-Hundeyin said the roundtable would also emphasise the extent to which the three new focus areas – social inclusion, gender equality and youth development of the THEMESplus agenda – are reflected in the activities and interventions of MDAs.

She said her office would work on ensuring that the recommendations from the roundtable were processed and policy reviews and adjustments made where necessary.

Also speaking, the Director of Policy Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Cabinet Office, Oladele Oyatope said the department was established in 2022, with a mandate to develop frameworks for analysing, monitoring, and evaluating policies and decisions of the government.

Mr Oyatope defined public policy as a course of action taken by governments to address public problems and achieve desired outputs, relying on laws, decisions, regulations, and funding priorities.

He said the role of government was to provide basic and essential services, foster all-round development, secure democracy and rights, provide healthcare services, and ensure qualitative education.

According to him, public policy aims to achieve the aims of governments, improve society, and ensure the delivery of goods and services, developing economic and social systems.

Also, the Dean of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, Bayo Oladipo, commended the efforts of the Lagos State Government in providing quality and functional education at all levels.

Mr Oladipo said, “When you look at the quality of the facilities provided, the type of training provided, the type of environment provided for teachers at the lower level, the secondary school level, and the tertiary institutions, you will agree with me that they have passion for quality and functional education, and this is highly commendable. Every level of education is important, be it primary, secondary or tertiary, and there is a need to pay adequate attention to all levels of education, because if you get it wrong from the lower level, every other thing will not stand well.’’

He urged the government to continue to equip the teachers and students adequately to make them future ready to handle the challenges of the 21st century.

The dean added. “Whether we like it or not, technology has come to stay, so the integration of technology in our primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions will be very basic in the efforts. So, I want to encourage the Lagos State Government to improve their efforts in integrating technology at the lower level, at the middle level and at the higher level.’’

(NAN)