While GPE doesn’t provide funding to Edo State¹, its experience with a prioritized reform in basic education offers valuable insights into the what and the how of bringing about system transformation in practice.

In a conversation with GPE senior management and staff, former Governor Godwin Obaseki reflected on the state’s journey and reforms he led, the approaches taken, tough decisions and breakthroughs, and the non-negotiables that guided reform efforts.

These reflections were rooted in the significant challenges Edo State sought to overcome: critically low literacy and numeracy levels, poor school infrastructure, widespread teacher absenteeism, little accountability and a decline in the population’s confidence in public education.

This was the ambition of the government-led Basic Education Sector Transformation program (EdoBest) launched in 2018.

By prioritizing foundational learning, empowering teachers and using technology to deliver teaching and learning as well as drive accountability, EdoBest aimed to revolutionize basic education to deliver measurable improvements in learning outcomes.

A system transformed: traceable impacts

Some big wins include:

• Teacher empowerment: At the heart of the success, over 16,000 teachers were trained with modern teaching techniques, including the use of digital tools, while teacher attendance (that saw an increase after EdoBest launched) and lesson delivery became consistently monitored and supported.
• Enrollment: Student enrollment increased from 230,000 in 2018 to over 384,000 in 2024, reflecting renewed trust in public education.
• Learning outcomes: There have been significant strides in improving literacy and numeracy outcomes. For example, grade 3 students in primary schools under the EdoBest now achieve literacy and numeracy outcomes comparable to students in grade 5 attending schools not part of EdoBest.
• Efficiencies: There have been significant improvements to make the system more efficient, for example a 50% reduction in grade repetition rates.

What were the key building blocks of transformation?

Achievements in transforming Edo State’s education system rested on 5 pillars:

1. Effective governance and strengthening accountability

Strong governance formed the backbone of the transformation journey, beginning with the restructuring of the State Universal Basic Education Board.

This revitalized central body became the nerve center for system-wide reforms, aligning goals across schools, teachers and administrators to ensure cohesion and clarity in implementation.

To drive these efforts, a performance-based management approach was introduced, linking reform initiatives to clear, measurable targets focused on learning outcomes and equity. This created a shared accountability that guided stakeholders toward tangible results.

Accountability was further strengthened through regular, data-driven school inspections.

This quality assurance, supported by a robust data dashboard, provided real-time insights into school performance, enabling administrators to pinpoint areas needing attention as well as implement timely interventions to keep progress on track.

2. Teachers at the center of education system transformation

Edo State recognized that quality teaching and supporting teachers were both the main challenge and greatest opportunity to achieve system transformation.

Teachers received training in modern pedagogy and were equipped with digital tools, including preloaded lesson plans delivered via tablets. At the same time, strong partnerships were built with teacher unions.

The complementary program Edo Supporting Teachers to Achieve Results (EdoSTAR) was also a cornerstone of the education system reform. EdoSTAR aimed to recruit and retain top teaching talent to underserved schools, address inequities and professionalize the teaching workforce.

This program introduced performance-linked career pathways, providing motivation for teachers while ensuring accountability. These measures helped restore pride and morale within the teaching profession.

3. Using data and technology as a game changer to accelerate results

EdoBEST has leveraged technology to drive reform efforts in and outside of the classroom as well as improve accountability.

Teacher tablets preloaded with scripted lesson plans ensure consistent, high-quality instruction across classrooms, enabling teachers to focus more energy on how they deliver lessons in the classroom rather than prepare lesson content.

Real-time dashboards track attendance, lesson completion and school performance, allowing education officials to monitor progress and address challenges swiftly. These tools have accelerated results by enabling timely, data-driven decision making.

4. Community engagement to drive ownership and trust

One of the steps considered the most important to engage community members in transforming teaching and learning was setting up school-based management committees and training their members.

These committees involved parents and local leaders in oversight of how reforms were implemented and managed, and were instrumental in fostering engagement, improved transparency and ensuring that reforms reflected local needs.

As public schools began delivering better results, parents who had previously chosen private education returned to the public system.

This growing confidence in public schools came as a result of improvements in teaching and the learning environment, reflecting the importance of including parents and community leaders as key stakeholders in education.

5. Collaboration across sectors to address children’s needs

Collaboration and partnerships with other sectors were built to tackle systemic barriers to addressing children’s needs and improving learning in Edo State. For instance, the education sector joined with the health sector in a focus on ensuring students’ physical and mental well-being.

The education sector also collaborated with social development and the justice system on broader social initiatives to keep girls in school by addressing barriers to girls completing their education, including early marriage, safeguarding against gender-based violence.

For example, the domestication and implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act in Edo state enabled the education system to work with the justice system in following up on cases of gender-based violence affecting female students.

What were the catalysts of change and tough decisions?

The transformation journey in Edo State was catalyzed by a sense of urgency as failures of the education system threatened the state’s socioeconomic stability, with high levels of irregular youth migration underscoring the need to equip students with foundational skills and to address the challenges with basic education.

Tough decisions included:

• Overhauling entrenched political interests and a ‘business-as-usual’ mentality in order to enhance accountability and improve efficiency
• Standardizing teaching methods through scripted lesson plans and ongoing teacher training and support which improved teaching quality
• Prioritizing foundational learning in literacy and numeracy over other competing priorities as a way to target the root causes of learning poverty.

The role of leadership in driving transformation

The influence of inspirational and committed leaders at all levels and across all domains is recognized as a fundamental feature of driving transformation across education systems. Clearly in the case of Edo State, high-level leadership has been key in building such collective leadership.

As champions of change, high-level leaders anticipate the needs of an education system, articulate a vision and set a strategy to meet future learning and skills expectations.

They build advocacy movements and campaigns around different dimensions of the transformation agenda, inspiring others to follow suit and forging coalitions among policy makers, managers and administrators, teachers, civil society organizations, development partners and nontraditional partners such as private sector actors.

This blog is part of a series on system transformation, sharing voices and insights from partners and practitioners on what we are learning about education system transformation in different contexts and what it takes.

We are grateful to Mr Godwin Obaseki, former Governor of Edo state (Nov 2016 – Nov 2024) and to his team at the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) led by the SUBEB Chair, Mrs Eyitayo Salami for sharing learning and reflection on the EdoBEST journey with the GPE Secretariat.

1. GPE grants cover other states in Nigeria: the ongoing $125 million implementation grant supports 3 states (Oyo, Amadawa and Katsina with the World Bank as grant agent) while the upcoming system transformation grant will support 6 states (Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Kebbi, Kwara and Lagos with the World Bank and UNICEF as grant agents) that reflect one state from each of the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria, selected by the local education group in Abuja after a thorough process. GPE also supports children who are out of school in Kaduna (grant agent Islamic Development Bank, $62M), internally displaced people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (grant agent UNICEF, $5M), as well as refugees from Cameroon and host communities in Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross River and Taraba states (grant agent Save the Children, $5M).