The Lagos State Government has called for a shift from routine school inspections to a results-driven education quality assurance system that translates evaluation findings into measurable improvements in learners’ performance.
The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, stated this at a roundtable on education quality assurance organised by the Lagos State Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) at Protea Hotel, Ikeja.
The event, themed “Adopting Global Best Practice in Transforming Education Quality Assurance in Lagos State,” with the sub-theme “Developing Efficient Quality Assurance System for Improved Learning Outcomes in Lagos State,” brought together education policymakers, school owners, professional associations, development partners and other stakeholders to discuss ways of improving education standards in the state.
Declaring the roundtable open, Alli-Balogun described the theme as timely, noting that the engagement would encourage critical discussions and generate practical ideas for strengthening quality assurance across Lagos schools.
He emphasised the need for an integrated approach to school evaluation, professional support, institutional accountability and technology adoption.
The commissioner stressed that quality assurance should go beyond routine inspections and report generation to ensure that evaluation findings lead to targeted interventions and measurable improvements in learners’ performance.
He also welcomed the participation of technical partners from Finland, urging stakeholders to adapt relevant international best practices to the realities and specific needs of Lagos State.
Alli-Balogun expressed confidence that the roundtable would produce actionable recommendations, measurable performance indicators and an implementation roadmap outlining institutional responsibilities, priority interventions and mechanisms for tracking progress.
He reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to ensuring that every learner receives quality teaching, acquires relevant knowledge and skills, and has the opportunity to succeed, irrespective of school type or location.
Delivering the keynote lecture, the immediate past Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze, said the true measure of an education system lay not merely in enrolment figures or infrastructure provision, but in the quality of learning experienced by every child.
Akabueze observed that despite progress in expanding access to education, disparities persisted in the availability of learning resources, textbooks, science laboratories and teacher support, particularly between public and private schools.
He advocated a proactive, developmental and data-driven quality assurance framework anchored on clear performance standards, regular school self-evaluation, continuous teacher professional development, reliable educational data and technology-enabled monitoring.
Akabueze identified the establishment of OEQA as an important milestone in the state’s efforts to institutionalise educational quality improvement. He, however, called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, school leaders, teachers, parents, development partners and the private sector.
He emphasised that sustainable progress required shared responsibility and sustained investment in education.
Contributing to the discussions, the Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary, Education District I, Dr Idowu Olufunke Oyetola, advocated clearer standards for public and private schools, improved feedback and follow-up mechanisms, leadership development and certification for school principals, school-cluster mentoring, reliable data dashboards and greater community participation.
She also stressed the need to safeguard learners, improve school infrastructure, promote inclusive learning environments and ensure that the needs of children with disabilities were adequately considered in school planning and approval processes.
The Director-General of OEQA, Dr Sulaimon Ogunmuyiwa, outlined the agency’s mandate through the acronym REMI, which stands for Regulate, Evaluate, Monitor and Improve.
He explained that quality assurance should help schools identify their strengths, address weaknesses and pursue continuous improvement rather than being perceived as a punitive or fault-finding exercise.
Ogunmuyiwa identified the shortage of evaluators as a major challenge to effective quality assurance, alongside manual documentation, inconsistent data management, inadequate staffing, limited professional certification for quality assurance officers and insufficient coordination among education stakeholders.
To address the gaps, he presented seven reform priorities for consideration at the roundtable.
The proposals included 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 areas and local council development areas, and advancing a Non-State School Policy to address different forms of non-state education provision.
He also proposed establishing an education quality assurance laboratory to support the assessment of learners, teachers and schools, alongside stronger partnerships and professional development initiatives to improve the effectiveness of quality assurance activities.
Earlier, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at OEQA, Mrs Evelyn Ibukun Pelemo, described the theme as timely and significant to Lagos State’s pursuit of excellence, economic prosperity and global competitiveness.
Pelemo said the agency’s responsibility extended beyond identifying gaps in schools to providing constructive feedback, supporting teachers and school leaders, and ensuring that every learner had the opportunity to succeed.
She noted that an efficient quality assurance system must be built on clear standards, reliable data, professional competence, transparent processes and a sustained commitment to improvement.
She stressed that the objective was not to replicate foreign systems but to adapt proven global principles to the Lagos context to develop sustainable solutions.
In a goodwill message, the Group Head, Education Finance, Sterling Bank, Mrs Yonodu Okeugo, who represented the bank’s chief executive officer, highlighted private-sector contributions to education, including support for teachers, students and schools through educational solutions and technology-enabled learning tools.
She reiterated the importance of sustained investment in education as a foundation for national development.
The roundtable examined existing quality assurance practices and explored practical approaches to strengthening the state’s education system.
The engagement forms part of Lagos State’s efforts to build a quality assurance framework that promotes accountability, supports school improvement, strengthens teaching and delivers better learning outcomes for all learners.
