The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Hon. Tolani Sule, has reiterated the commitment of the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to stem the tide of illiteracy in Lagos with mass quality education and vocational training for residents of the state.
This assertion was made on Tuesday when he spoke to journalists in his office at the Secretariat, Alausa, on the government’s efforts to ensure residents of the state acquire quality education and vocational skills.
According to him, aside from the administration’s enormous investment in tertiary education, the government is also putting large resources into the Agency for Mass Education for residents to benefit from skills learning for free from the state government vocational and learning centres across the state.
Hon. Sule said to improve the quality of teaching, the state government has increased the number of facilitators and instructors in the centres and also improved their remuneration to boost the instructors’ dedication.
Speaking further, he said the state government has ensured that only qualified graduates and National Certificate of Education holders are recruited as facilitators and instructors to improve the quality of teaching at the centres.
According to him, 712 literacy and eight vocational centres across the state have been supplied with teaching aids, learning materials, furniture, and tools. This is in addition to providing enabling working environments that will improve learning and teaching in the centres.
Sule said between the year 2020 and now, over 124,000 students were enrolled and over 115, 000 graduated from the Agency for Mass Education centres within the same period.
The Commissioner assured residents of the state that part of the Agency’s objectives is to provide learning opportunities for those who missed the opportunity of regular school for various reasons and for the unemployed to acquire skills in various vocations and skills of their choice for free.
However, the Commissioner sounded a note of warning to parents and guardians that it is an offence under the child’s rights law in Lagos state for parents not to enrol their children in schools.
In a related development, the Commissioner has assured the management of Eko University of Medicine and Health Sciences (EKO UNIMED) of the Ministry’s unflinching support and cooperation towards having a university of medical sciences capable of producing qualified medical personnel for Lagos State and others.
He said this during a courtesy visit of the management of the University to the Ministry of Tertiary Education in Lagos on Tuesday.
According to him, the establishment of the university is much needed at the moment when the population of the state is growing astronomically and the brain-drain of qualified medical personnel to other countries.
The leader of the delegation and also the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Adedayo Ejiwunmi assured the Commissioner of the readiness of the university to forge a partnership with the Ministry and the Lagos State government for a successful University of Medicine capable of responding to the health care needs in the state.
The EKO University of Medicine and Health Sciences is expected to add value to the existing efforts to produce enough medical personnel and improve the healthcare delivery system in Lagos state and Nigeria in general.
