The Lagos State Government has proposed a series of reforms to strengthen education quality assurance, including digital monitoring systems, annual school self-evaluations and expanded support for school leaders, as part of efforts to improve teaching standards and learning outcomes across public and private schools.
The proposals were presented at a roundtable organised by the Lagos State Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) at Protea Hotel, Ikeja, where policymakers, school owners, education professionals and other stakeholders examined ways to make school evaluation more effective and responsive to learners’ needs.
The engagement, themed “Adopting Global Best Practice in Transforming Education Quality Assurance in Lagos State,” focused on developing a more efficient system that goes beyond routine inspections to ensure that evaluation findings lead to measurable improvements in schools.
Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, said quality assurance must combine school evaluation, professional support, institutional accountability and technology to deliver better educational outcomes.
He stressed that inspections and reports would have limited value if identified weaknesses were not followed by targeted interventions. He also urged stakeholders to consider relevant international practices, including contributions from technical partners in Finland, while adapting them to the realities of Lagos State.
The commissioner expressed hope that the roundtable would produce practical recommendations, measurable performance indicators and an implementation roadmap specifying responsibilities, priority interventions and mechanisms for monitoring progress.
Delivering the keynote address, the immediate past Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, said the performance of an education system should be measured by what children actually learn rather than enrolment figures or the availability of school infrastructure alone.
Akabueze observed that disparities remained in access to learning resources, textbooks, science laboratories and teacher support, particularly between public and private schools. He called for a proactive and data-driven approach to quality assurance, supported by clear performance standards, regular school self-evaluation, continuous teacher development and reliable educational data.
He also highlighted the importance of collaboration among government agencies, school administrators, teachers, parents, development partners and the private sector, noting that sustainable improvements would require shared responsibility and sustained investment.
The Director-General of OEQA, Sulaimon Ogunmuyiwa, outlined the agency’s mandate through the acronym REMI, meaning Regulate, Evaluate, Monitor and Improve. He said quality assurance should help schools identify their strengths, address weaknesses and improve continuously rather than being viewed primarily as a punitive exercise.
Ogunmuyiwa identified shortages of evaluators, manual documentation, inconsistent data management, inadequate staffing, limited professional certification for quality assurance officers and weak coordination among education stakeholders as challenges affecting the effectiveness of the system.
To address these gaps, he presented seven reform priorities for consideration at the roundtable. Among the proposals were strengthening school-based quality assurance through trained vice-principals, introducing annual school self-evaluation and improvement plans, expanding the agency’s operational presence across the state’s 57 local government and local council development areas, and advancing a Non-State School Policy to address different forms of non-state education provision.
Other proposals included establishing an education quality assurance laboratory to support the assessment of learners, teachers and schools, alongside stronger partnerships and professional development programmes for quality assurance personnel.
The Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary of Education District I, Idowu Olufunke Oyetola, also called for clearer standards for public and private schools, stronger feedback and follow-up mechanisms, leadership development for school principals and mentoring arrangements among school clusters.
She emphasised the need for reliable data dashboards, greater community participation, improved school infrastructure and safer, more inclusive learning environments. She added that the needs of children with disabilities should be adequately considered in school planning and approval processes.
Earlier, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at OEQA, Evelyn Ibukun Pelemo, said an effective quality assurance system must be built on clear standards, reliable data, professional competence, transparent processes and a sustained commitment to improvement.
She noted that the agency’s responsibility extended beyond identifying shortcomings to providing constructive feedback and supporting teachers and school leaders in addressing them. Pelemo also stressed that international best practices should be adapted to Lagos State’s circumstances rather than copied without consideration of local needs.
In a goodwill message, Yonodu Okeugo, Group Head of Education Finance at Sterling Bank, who represented the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Abubakr Sulaiman, highlighted the role of private-sector investment in supporting schools, teachers and students through educational solutions and technology-enabled learning tools.
The roundtable brought together education policymakers, school owners, professional associations, representatives of education districts and development partners to discuss existing quality assurance practices and possible reforms.
The proposed measures are intended to strengthen accountability, improve the use of educational data and provide schools with more effective support. Their impact, however, will depend on implementation, adequate staffing, sustained funding and the extent to which evaluation findings translate into practical improvements in classroom teaching and student learning.
