Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has entered into a partnership with Facebook for the provision of internet infrastructure, learning resources and community support for teachers in public schools. Obaseki disclosed this at a luncheon for Facebook Education Section delegation at the Government House, in Benin. He said the partnership would strengthen the state’s basic education reforms. He also disclosed that his administration will continue to deploy technology to drive basic education reforms, which will prepare pupils in the state to compete favorably with their peers across the globe. The governor expressed appreciation to Facebook for providing technology to support basic education reforms implemented by his administration to re-enact qualitative education in the state.

According to him, the support from the technology giant would assist the state government prepare pupils in Edo State to compete with their contemporaries across the globe. He said: “We have to prepare the Edo child for a competitive world; a world without boundaries, as children across the world will compete for the best that life can offer. Apart from recreating the curriculum, the use of technology is very important, that is why we are grateful to Facebook."

“We have dug almost 400km of fibers optic cables around Benin Metropolis and it will be extended to other parts of the state. Fibre optic cables are an important infrastructure for modern living. It is important as electricity, as the combination of fibre optic cables and electricity put one in a competitive position globally.”

Obaseki noted that when the service becomes functional, teachers and other stakeholders in the education sector would fully maximise the use of technology to improve learning.

In his remarks, the Head, Facebook Education Partnerships, Dr. Adam Seldow, said the company will be assisting pupils in the state to learn better by providing connectivity, teachers’ resources and professional community in schools. Seldow explained that Facebook was interested in Edo State because of the state government’s accomplishments with the Edo Basic Education Transformation Sector (Edo-BEST) program. He noted that their data indicated that about 10.5 million children were not attending schools in Nigeria, while one in five teachers is not receiving relevant training to improve learning outcomes in classrooms. He said “Facebook is providing intervention by assisting the state government build professional community, provide teachers’ training materials and connectivity.”