LASG plans digital school monitoring amid evaluator shortage

The Director-General of the Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA), Sulaimon Olagoke Ogunmuyiwa Photo: Lagos State

The Lagos State Government is considering digital school monitoring, annual self-evaluation by schools and an expansion of quality assurance operations to address staffing and data management gaps in the state’s education system.

 The proposed reforms were presented at a roundtable organised by the Office of Education Quality Assurance in Ikeja, where the agency’s Director-General, Dr Sulaimon Ogunmuyiwa, identified shortages of evaluators, manual documentation, inconsistent data management and inadequate staffing as challenges affecting effective monitoring of schools.

 In a statement obtained by The PUNCH on Thursday, Ogunmuyiwa said the agency had proposed seven reform priorities, including training vice-principals to strengthen school-based quality assurance, requiring annual school self-evaluation and improvement plans, and extending its operational presence across the state’s 57 local government areas and local council development areas.

 He also proposed an education quality assurance laboratory to assess learners, teachers and schools, alongside a policy to address different forms of non-state education provision.

The proposals came as the state sought to strengthen oversight of public and private schools and ensure that inspections translated into improvements in teaching and learning.

 The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, said quality assurance should go beyond routine inspections and the production of reports.

He said evaluation findings must lead to targeted interventions and measurable improvements in learners’ performance, adding that the state needed an integrated approach to school evaluation, professional support, institutional accountability and technology adoption.

 Alli-Balogun also urged stakeholders to adapt relevant international practices to Lagos’ needs, following the participation of technical partners from Finland.

• Reps propose parole, probation to ease prison congestion
• Nigeria wins bid to host 2028 ITTF Africa Champs
• Navy, Lagos LG seek collaboration to curb drug, human trafficking

Delivering the keynote address, the immediate past Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, said the quality of education should be measured by what children learn rather than enrolment figures or the provision of infrastructure alone.

 He noted that disparities persisted in access to learning resources, textbooks, science laboratories and teacher support, particularly between public and private schools.

Akabueze called for clear performance standards, regular school self-evaluation, continuous teacher development, reliable educational data and technology-enabled monitoring.

 The Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary, Education District I, Idowu Oyetola, also advocated clearer standards for schools, stronger feedback and follow-up mechanisms, leadership development for principals, school-cluster mentoring and reliable data dashboards.

 She said school planning and approval processes should also account for the needs of children with disabilities, alongside improvements in infrastructure, learner safety and inclusive education.

Earlier, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at OEQA, Evelyn Pelemo, said the agency’s responsibility extended beyond identifying shortcomings to providing constructive feedback and supporting teachers and school leaders.

 “The goal is not to replicate foreign systems, but to adapt proven global principles to the Lagos context to develop sustainable solutions,” she said.