By Uchino Amatey
The Universal Learning Solution (ULS), Jolly Phonics Training Partners to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) have presented the Literacy Champion Award to Governor Ben Ayade and Executive Chairman SUBEB, Dr Stephen Odey.
The award ceremony which was held at the Conference room of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Calabar, was in recognition of their commitment to the jolly phonics project and helping pupils in public primary schools learn how to read and write with confidence.
The event was also held to celebrate Cross River for emerging as the best performing Jolly Phonics State in Nigeria in the 2019 phonics screening exercise organised by Universal Learning Solutions (ULS) and to celebrate the success of the project in the State.
Speaking during the event, Project Director, Universal Learning Solution (ULS), Louise Gittins stated that out of 56,000 primary 1 to 3 pupils assessed in the Country, Cross River State Pupils emerged as the best performing in the literacy assessment.
According to her “We did a jolly phonics screening exercise across all States in the country, schools were chosen randomly, and we did not choose the best schools. We assessed 56,000 pupils in primary 1 to 3 across the Country. We wanted to look at the results of pupils in primary 3 just to see if there are able to read. We did a sound test and a word test, the test we used was from the UK government, it was a test that has been developed by experts to really see if children have received key basic phonics skills, such as knowing the sounds, being able to blend and so on. When we broke the results down to states, I was so excited to see Cross River at the top; a vast majority of Primary 3 pupils in Cross River are now reading words. Similarly, in primary 2 the results were also great, we had really high mean scores, higher than the scores in primary 3 across the Country. Even the mean scores in primary 1 are still high if we compare with the rest of the country, which is amazing. I am excited to say Cross River is the best state in the Country.”
Speaking on the assessment app, Gittins stated that this new technological system will be used in monitoring schools, assessing pupils, observing teachers, providing feedback for teachers mentoring and guidance. She added that the innovation will enable decision markers and stakeholders pinpoint specific areas for support and called on the SUBEB Boss to partner with ULS to enhance literacy in public schools through the Jolly monitor app.
She expressed gratitude to the Board and the State Government for their support towards the success of Jolly Phonics project.
In her words “In the last few years the project has grown from strength to strength. It was fantastic when it started, but in the last few years the project has really taken course and it is because of the support of SUBEB and the continued support of UBEC. Dr Odey, It is wonderful that you came in and built upon existing projects, and enhanced it to make it even better. I will also like to highlight that under the 2016 Teachers professional development funds, Cross River State gave the most funds towards jolly phonics and that highlights how much support you have given to the project and indeed the passion you have for pupils development. I want to say thank you to you and the Governor for enabling us improve the literacy standard in the State.”
She said with the support of State government and SUBEB, Universal Learning Solution has been able to pilot new initiatives in the State such as, “Story shaping” a tool to develop speaking and listening to enhance the impact of jolly phonics particularly in terms of fluency and comprehension.
Gittins said jolly phonics in Nigeria started in 2011 with a pilot study in Cross River State when there was a serious literacy challenge and the improvement in literacy from then on has been tremendous. She added that due to the impact jolly phonics had on pupils of Cross River State all states across the Country adopted the project.
She further commended teacher leaders for their dedication and continuous commitment towards improving performance of teachers and pupils across the State. She stated that due to the dedication of teachers, all advanced teacher leaders have become trainers, and that there are more trainers in Cross River than any other State in Nigeria.
Gittins stated that ULS has been able to train 80,459 thousand teachers across Nigeria, with Cross River leading the way with 6,620 trained teachers. She also added that Cross River played host to the first ever Jolly phonics conference where trainers from all over the country gathered at the University of Calabar.
Responding, the Executive Chairman SUBEB, Stephen Odey, expressed his excitement over the strides the state has attained in the Jolly phonics project and commended ULS for enhancing the literacy level of the state through new innovations and initiatives.
He assured of the Board and State government’s commitment to continue to partner with ULS to ensure that Cross River remains a leading State.
Odey said due to the passion Governor Ayade has for the education sector, he established a world class West African Teachers Continuous Training Programme in Cross River State. He said the training center which is undergoing construction in Biase LGA will commence academic activities before the end of the year.
He noted that, the essence of this center is to ensure that teachers are properly trained in line with modern trends and global best practices in order to improve basic education.
The SUBEB Boss said teachers are very key to the development of basic education in the State, hence his continuous focus on them.
According to him “Since I was appointed my priority has been the teachers, because no matter the beautiful structures, good learning environment and all the infrastructures without quality teachers the education system will collapse. That has been the reason why my emphasis has been on training, screening and verification of teachers so that only quality teachers will be in the sector. I have seen situations where people who have never gone to colleges of education are recruited to teach, but I think to a large extend our last recruitment exercise of 2000 quality teachers and the personnel audit exercise have been able to address all of that.”
The event also featured presentation of awards to best performing pupils and teachers as well as other personnels who have contributed to the success of the project in the State.
Universal Learning Solution (ULS) is an International UBEC approved Training Provider that specializes in Jolly Phonics. Jolly phonics is a major international top selling English literacy tool.
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