For effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of basic education delivery across Nigeria, education managers, planners and stakeholders are to leverage emotional intelligence as catalyst for standardised educational output in schools.
It is believed that this will help monitors to deploy the right communication skills and human relations techniques in relating with contractors handling basic education projects in their various states.
“Recent research suggests that the competencies associated with emotional intelligence are not set in stone at birth, but that the emotional competencies can indeed be learned and developed,” said Olufunso Owasanoye, executive director, human development initiative (HDI), stating that, “Emotion is a strong feeling that is not visibly seen, majority finds it very difficult to cope, connect or communicate effectively with themselves and others.”
Owasanoye stated this at a recent M&E training of community volunteers and stakeholders in basic education who were mobilised to monitor SUBEB projects in Lagos. The training was conducted with support from Mac Arthur Foundation, which facilitated the training of over 50 monitors from various local government education authorities (LGEAs), to monitor the implementation of the 2018 Action Plans in their LGEAs.
“What the training has achieved is awareness. Most of those in the community level were not aware of projects funded by UBE in their community talk less that they can be empowered to monitor it.
“As we need intellectual ability to be successful in every aspect of our lives, we also require emotional intelligence that can help us to turn intention into action, in order to make inform decisions about the things that matter to us and others,” said Owasanoye.
James Fadokun, of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), said bottom-up approach to M&E initiated and owned by the community is required to stop the systemic failure in Nigeria’s education sector. According to him, monitoring must be evidence based to ensure quality delivery of educational outcomes.
Dapo Israel, permanent board member, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) said the introduction of the state’s Eko Excellence in Child Education and Learning (EkoEXCEL) programme is to promote collaborative learning that engages the pupils/students to deliver better educational outcomes.
“It has two dimensions, first is the introduction of technology into our schools and the cultural shift, which is the best part of it; because when you have a culture reorientation – for life that expression cannot be taken away from you,” said Israel.
Israel opined that there is going to be unified tutorials, lesson note, and that the state has factored in sustainability plan into the execution of the scheme. According to him, 300 schools will be used at the pilot stage of the Eko EXCEL programme when schools resume back for the 2019/2020 academic session in January.
“With Eko EXCEL, attendance, lessons and tutorials is unified – what you are learning at one location is the same with other locations; the challenge in the past is that when a child misses school he/she doesn’t understand what they are teaching in the other school, but when everybody is teaching the same module, you are learning the same thing.
“It doesn’t matter what classroom you are; you will still be able to catch up and they have the number of classes you have attended and classes you missed, if you missed any. So, going to other schools, you are continuing what you are learning from the previous school,” Israel stated.
SEYI JOHN SALAU
