Overview

The Lagos Eko Project builds on efficient coordination mechanisms in the effective implementation of its activities. The focus of this mechanism includes proper financial management and procurement services, timely implementation and technical support, effective monitoring and evaluation as well as the implementation of an information and communications strategy.

The Lagos Eko Secondary Education project is a $90 million partnership between Lagos State Government and the World Bank with the overall objective of improving the quality of education by enhancing learning outcomes in public junior and senior secondary schools in the State. The Project is an intervention targeted at addressing the deteriorating quality of education in the state. Also, the fact that the West African Examination Council Examination (WASCE) results have been consistently poor over the last ten years across the country has necessitated concrete steps by Lagos State and it was therefore expedient for the Project to improve on the quality and relevance of education by focusing on learning outcomes in core subjects (English, Mathematics and the Sciences). Schools development grant comprise the largest component of the project and it is the main tool deployed to achieve developmental objectives.

The Lagos Eko Project is the first education intervention in Lagos State with exclusive focus on ‘enhanced learning outcomes’. An integral part of this process is the administration of standardized students’ assessments to show the learning gains achieved by students over time and make learning outcomes more manageable and better understood. The student assessment results are tracked by comparing successive results of baseline and end of the year. Since inception, there has been steady progression in students’ performance based on percentage gains from baseline and subsequent assessments. A result monitoring framework was built at the initial stage of the project with Key Performance Indicators for the project development objectives covering grant disbursement, teachers’ professional development, standardized students’ assessment and attendance. Zonal Project Administrators are responsible for gathering school data at the district while grant monitoring is carried out with the involvement of a number of stakeholders including members of the Schools-Based Management Committee (SBMC).

The Lagos Eko Project was developed based on the premise that better results are achieved when power is devolved to schools as they understand the needs of their schools and are able to implement effective and collaborative school management principles. In furtherance of this, all 639 schools receive grants ranging from N1 million to N3 million on a yearly basis depending on their size.

The project is developed in consonance with existing education structure in the state so that the legacies of the project can be easily mainstreamed. It is believed that direct management of human and material resources will be the future of school management so it is hoped that principals and head teachers having been empowered will ensure that resources continue to be allocated directly. The Project also believes that the development and nurturing of a well rounded student will contribute in no small measure to the overall socio-economic and political development of the State and by extension, the nation.