Momoh Umar Momoh, Benin
The Executive Chairman of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mrs Onomen Goodness Briggs, has refuted the rumour making the rounds that the State Government was phasing out the educational tablets introduced by Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration.
The educational tablets was introduced by the immediate past government to boost e-learning programmes in the State.
It could be recalled that rumour has been making the rounds that the Governor Monday Okpebholo-led government has concluded plans to phase out the e-learning program in public schools.
The e-learning program introduced by the immediate past government was the use of digital tablets and informed lesson plans by the teachers to teach those in the basic schools, from primary to the Junior Secondary schools, as part of the Edo Best program.
Briggs, who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Benin City on Monday, said the state was only replacing the content in the tablets.
She said the need to replace the content was due to the obsolete nature of the Universal Basic Education curriculum at the time the contents were created by the immediate past government.
She also disclosed that the tablets are for Edo State, while the contents are for consultants employed by the past government to run the program.
The SUBEB boss added that officials of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are already creating a portal for the contents, assuring that when finished the state government has the potential of selling the portal to other states as well as other countries for revenue generation.
According to her, we heard that people are saying that we want to phase out the use of digital tablets to teach in our schools by the State Government.
“I want to clarify that we are not phasing out the programme, but we are only replacing the contents in line with the current Universal Basic Education curriculum.
“The curriculum that was operating when the tablet was introduced is obsolete, so we are currently developing new content to replace that.
“The tablets the teachers are using are for Edo state, and when you hear that they are withdrawing the tablet, it is not the tablet that they are withdrawing but the contents.
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“The EdoBest issue is that the contents are the consultants’ property and not for Edo State. So, for retaining it, it means we are going to keep the consultants in the state forever and ever for us to keep using those contents.
“It is about the contents and not the containers. The container is our own (tablets). We have already bought it, even though it is not in all schools in the State,” she said.
Briggs also disclosed that in collaboration with the staff of the board has been able to create its content.
She said the content is made up of curriculum and schemes of work that the teachers would be using to teach pupils and students.
“As we speak in collaboration with my teams we have been able to create our own content. Even right now by the grace of God by the time we finished, those in charge of the ICT are already creating a portal.
“So, we have gotten a set of intelligent people among the civil servants. They are not from outside. They are all SUBEB staff.
“They picked from the National Curriculum, picked from the Scheme of works, they used our books that have been approved and got the content out, and now you can still teach across the board the same thing.
“The tablets are our equipment we can put our content there. That is what our ICTs are trying to do. So they can still go to the APP and use it.
“When we finish, Edo State can start selling it to other states and other countries, and start making our own money,” she added.
