As part of efforts in ensuring that the highest quality standard and safety is attained in Lagos schools, the Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) on Thursday organised an orientation programme for school owners/proprietors below the tertiary level on approval/post-approval processes.
The event, held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, was organised to acquaint school owners/proprietors with guidelines and standardisation required before approval can be granted and ensure that these processes are strictly adhered to after approval.
Addressing participants at the event, the Director-General of OEQA, Mrs. Abiola Seriki-Ayeni noted that the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration placed a high premium on the quality and standard of learning in schools across the state, hence the office is constantly evolving to ensure the highest standard is attained.
“Mr. Governor has tasked us that as a regulatory agency, we must be an enabler, that we must constantly be open to learning new ways in which we can enable our schools, teachers, school leaders so ensure that indeed quality education can take place in our schools and that it will impact learning outcomes’’.
The DG stated that the business of school management cannot be compared to bakeries or shops but to be handled as an institution that impacts and affects lives, hence it must be standardised.
Her words, “Lagos State is committed to ensuring that your school is successful, committed to ensuring accountability and that there are minimum standard processes. Are we going to fold on our minimum standards, absolutely not’’?
“The children and residents of Lagos deserve an educational system that has high standards, our future depends on it and what we do now is important as it is crucial to the development of our state and nation’’, she added.
Seriki-Ayeni charged the participants not to see the orientation programme as a norm but for stakeholders to work holistically and maintain the standards that the State has set in the past years. She noted that the approval process is the easiest path but the post-approval which entails maintaining standards is the hallmark, as quality is above everything.
The DG maintained that compliance and standardisation are key in child protection as pupils should be safe within the walls of learning. She, therefore, reiterated the commitment of the Office to ensuring the well-being and safety of pupils hence schools must comply with high-quality standards of learning as well as protection.
The Director, Private Education Special Programmes, Mrs. Fabambi Falayi explained that the responsibility of OEQA is to strengthen control, regulations, standardisation, monitoring and evaluation of public and private schools below tertiary education.
She took participants through the approval process, provisional approval as well as post-approval process, noting that schools shouldn’t just go to sleep after obtaining approval but must maintain the standards required as the Office is saddled with the responsibility of continuous monitoring schools to ensure that they comply with the laid down process, procedures and guidelines.