Lagos State’s drive to reform basic education took center stage on the global stage this week as an official of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) joined Tunji Alausa, minister of state for health and social welfare, at the Education World Forum in London. The high-level gathering,which brings together education ministers,policymakers,and sector leaders from around the world,offered Nigeria a platform to share its recent strides in education governance and explore new strategies for improving learning outcomes. The Lagos UBEB participation underscores the state’s growing role in national education discourse and its bid to align local initiatives with international best practices.
Lagos UBEB participation at global education summit and its significance for basic schooling reform
By sharing a platform with global education ministers and policy shapers in London, the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) moved from being a recipient of international best practices to an active contributor. At the Education World Forum, the Lagos delegation – alongside Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Tunji Alausa – engaged with evidence-based strategies on foundational literacy, learning assessment, and digital inclusion, all of which are central to Nigeria’s basic education agenda. This exposure opens the door for LASUBEB to benchmark its reforms against leading systems worldwide, strengthening reforms around teacher development, curriculum renewal, and school governance. It also positions Lagos as a testing ground for new models that can be scaled across other states, notably in areas such as learning recovery, community participation, and low-cost EdTech integration.
The London meetings create tangible opportunities for Lagos to deepen partnerships and unlock technical support for school improvement. Key takeaways for basic schooling include:
- Policy alignment with global learning standards, especially in early-grade literacy and numeracy.
- Structured teacher training programmes that link classroom practice with data from learning assessments.
- Digital tools for monitoring attendance, tracking pupil performance, and supporting headteachers.
- Health-education linkages, reflecting Alausa’s portfolio, to improve school feeding, WASH facilities, and psychosocial support.
| Focus Area | Global Insight | Lagos Application |
|---|---|---|
| Foundational Skills | Early diagnostics | Baseline tests in primary 1-3 |
| Teacher Support | Coaching over one-off training | In-school mentors for public teachers |
| Data Use | Real-time dashboards | Simple school report cards |
| Equity | Targeted support for vulnerable pupils | Catch-up clubs in low-income communities |
Key panels and policy dialogues featuring Tunji Alausa and Lagos education delegation in London
Over the three-day summit, Tunji Alausa, Nigeria’s minister of state for health and social welfare, and the Lagos Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) delegation were immersed in a series of high-level conversations that linked education reform with broader social outcomes. In a packed ministerial roundtable on “Learning Recovery and Human Capital,” Alausa argued that any credible education agenda in Lagos must be underpinned by school health initiatives,from nutrition to mental well-being,if pupils are to benefit from curriculum reforms. Complementing his remarks, Lagos officials shared data-driven insights from the state’s public schools and exchanged implementation ideas with peers from cities such as London, Nairobi and São Paulo, focusing on scaling digital classrooms and improving teacher support systems.
The delegation also made its mark in breakout sessions and closed-door policy labs, where Lagos UBEB representatives were repeatedly invited to explain how the state is leveraging technology and community partnerships to keep children in school. Key contributions included:
- Panel on digital inclusion: Showcasing Lagos’ low-cost devices and offline-amiable learning platforms for pupils in riverine and peri-urban communities.
- Financing dialog: Outlining co-funding models with development partners to upgrade classrooms and teacher training centres.
- Urban education clinic: Sharing lessons on managing enrolment surges, transport challenges and learning gaps in a megacity of over 20 million residents.
| Session | Lagos Focus | Lead Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Ministerial Roundtable | Health-Education Nexus | Tunji Alausa |
| City Systems Panel | Public School Reform | Lagos UBEB Official |
| Innovation Lab | EdTech at Scale | Lagos Delegation |
How insights from the Education World Forum can reshape teacher training curriculum and learning outcomes in Lagos
Drawing from the policy dialogues and case studies shared in London, Lagos can begin to embed evidence-based practice, digital fluency, and inclusive pedagogy into its teacher training framework. Rather of focusing solely on syllabus coverage, professional development can prioritise classroom problem-solving, data-driven lesson planning, and real-time feedback loops between teachers, school leaders and UBEB officials. Sessions on edtech integration-from low-cost devices to adaptive learning platforms-can be grounded in examples showcased at the forum, helping teachers translate global innovations into context-appropriate strategies for crowded, resource-constrained classrooms.
These shifts have direct implications for how learning is measured and improved across public primary schools in Lagos. By aligning teacher competencies with global benchmarks discussed at the forum-such as formative assessment, social-emotional learning and early-grade literacy-the state can move from exam-driven instruction to competency-based learning that better prepares pupils for a digital economy.Strategically, this means redesigning in-service courses, mentoring schemes and school-based clusters around clear, trackable outcomes, as illustrated below:
| Focus Area | Teacher Training Shift | Expected Pupil Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Skills | Practical edtech sessions | Improved digital literacy |
| Assessment | Use of formative tools | Better mastery of core subjects |
| Inclusive Teaching | Training on diverse needs | Higher participation, fewer dropouts |
| Leadership | Coaching for head teachers | Stronger school learning culture |
- Policy learning from the forum can inform Lagos-specific teacher standards.
- Collaborative networks built in London can support peer learning and exchange.
- Monitoring systems can link training modules directly to classroom performance data.
Policy recommendations for Lagos and federal authorities to translate international education commitments into measurable classroom impact
For Lagos and Abuja, the real test of pledges made in London is whether pupils in Agege, Epe or Badagry can read, reason and thrive. That demands a clear financing and accountability framework that links global targets to local lesson plans.Authorities should establish a joint Lagos-Federal delivery taskforce that aligns UBEC funds, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) priorities and donor support around a small set of outcomes: early-grade literacy, numeracy, attendance and teacher effectiveness. Within this framework, budgets must be published in citizen-friendly formats and tied to school-level improvement plans, with school heads required to report termly on how grants affect learning. Investing in robust education data systems-from digitised EMIS to classroom-level assessments-will be essential to track progress against Enduring Development Goals and commitments made at the Education World Forum.
Translating international best practices into Lagos classrooms also hinges on empowering teachers and communities. Authorities should scale up continuous professional development using blended models-short, focused in-service training complemented by remote coaching-and link certification and promotion to demonstrated gains in pupil learning. A simple set of service standards for public schools, co-designed with teacher unions and parent associations, can guide implementation and reduce policy fatigue. To keep reform on course, both tiers of government should adopt a public scorecard, updated annually, that compares agreed indicators across LGAs and states, encouraging healthy competition and targeted support. The table below illustrates how such a scorecard could be framed for Lagos and federal monitoring.
| Priority Area | Key Indicator | Target by 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Early-grade literacy | % of Primary 3 pupils reading with comprehension | 70% |
| Teacher support | Teachers receiving annual CPD aligned to SDG 4 | 100% |
| School accountability | Public schools with published learning results | 90% |
| Equity in access | Reduction in out-of-school children in Lagos | -40% |
- Align funding with a few measurable learning outcomes, not just infrastructure.
- Strengthen data systems to capture real-time classroom performance.
- Professionalise teaching through continuous, evidence-based training.
- Publish results so parents, media and legislators can track delivery.
- Reward progress by recognising LGAs and schools that close learning gaps fastest.
Final Thoughts
As the Education World Forum draws participants from across the globe to exchange ideas on reshaping learning for the future, the presence of Nigeria’s delegation – including the Lagos UBEB official alongside Tunji Alausa – underscores the country’s bid to be part of that conversation. What remains to be seen is how quickly these international engagements translate into concrete policies, improved infrastructure, and better outcomes in classrooms back home. For now, the signals from London suggest that, at least at the policy level, Nigeria is keen not to be left behind in the global race to rethink and renew public education.
