As Governor of my state, vocational education on both secondary and post-secondary level shall be highly valued, well funded, and effectively implemented.

We live in a society that places a high value on the professions and office and government jobs, and that still considers hand work lower status.

It’s no surprise that parents want their children to pursue careers that will maintain or increase their status. In high socio-economic communities this is even more evident. And for most teachers, if a student is academically successful, this will be seen as a “waste of talent.” because their calling is in the field of hand work.

I’m sure that some of you who teach high school have had some students confide that what they enjoyed doing most was working with their hands, whether on car engines, electrical circuits in the house, hair, or doing therapeutic massage. I bet that many of these students also confided that there is no way they could tell their parents that they’d rather pursue one of these occupations than go to college to prepare for a professional or business career.

This bias against vocational education is dysfunctional. It is destructive to our children. They should have the opportunity to be trained in whatever skills their natural gifts and preferences lead them to, rather than more or less condemning them to jobs they’ll find meaningless.

To keep a young person with an affinity for hair design or one of the trades from developing the skills to pursue this calling is destructive.It is also destructive to our society. Many of the skills most needed to compete in the global market of the 21st century are technical skills that fall into the technical/vocational area.

The absence of excellence in many technical and vocational fields is also costing us economically as a state and a  nation.

My plan is to fundamentally structure vocational and technical education  to help prepare students for productivity and to inculcate skills in the students that will make them self-reliant and employers of labour.

Vocational and technical education learning can lead to the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge.

The fundamental purpose of this is to equip students with skills that can broaden their opportunities in life and help them to play an important role in preparing them for the world of work and to provide them with the skills necessary for self-employment as stated above. As Governor of Edo state I will further  set up task force to establish and determine what programmes we will offer.

While one may have some notion of what to offer, or what programmes and  classes to be taught at  vocational school. It's always best to consult with local businesses to determine what programmes they would find beneficial. Not only does this generate support for our vocational school, but some businesses may be interested in monetarily sponsoring a particular programme since essentially it will be training their future employees.

The facility size for a vocational school  depends upon the number of programmes and classes that will be offered as well as how many students it  will serve.

Once we've determined what programmes will be part of our school, We can then determine how much space will be needed to adequately teach and train students in each programme.

By adding the space for each programme together along with space for the office and administrative sites of our vocational school, we can work out what type of facility to lease, purchase or build.

As governor I shall move quickly to advance key education priorities in Edo state. Long-term investment in education must and will be my  major focus throughout my tenures.

 

A healthy teacher pipeline is critical to ensuring the future economic health and competitiveness of the state.

 

From teacher pay to school infrastructure to workforce readiness.

 

Every child deserves to attend school in a building that provides a safe and healthy learning environment.

 

Many aspects of education have changed over the past several decades; expectations of both students and teachers are rightfully higher as educators work to prepare all students for college and future careers.

 

The systems designed to support and train teachers have remained largely the same.

 

Teachers are still underpaid; they do not have access to the kinds of training and advancement opportunities that are outlined for the course in other professions; and the profession has not done enough to diversify, even as the students served in schools come from increasingly diverse backgrounds.

 

This mismatch between expectations and the supports and opportunities needed to meet them may partly explain the declining interest in teacher preparation programmes across the state.

 

A  growing body of research indicates that adequately funding education can make a big difference in student outcomes, particularly among low-income students.

 

In Edo state, the students and under graduate students who would most benefit from attending well-funded schools do not receive the additional funding needed to support their success.

 

To remedy this situation and ensure that all students, particularly those whose needs are greatest, have access to adequate educational resources,

 

If elected as governor of Edo state I shall create a commission of experts to review the state’s existing funding formula.

 

This analysis might determine, for example, how to provide more funding to the students and schools who need it most.

 

 The commission should also develop recommendations for improving state education funding equity and ensuring that all students attend schools that are funded adequately and meet their needs.

 

Such a commission should do a needs analysis for the state to determine which aspects of the teacher pipeline are most in need of attention, such as recruitment; retention; diversity of the workforce; selectivity and quality of teacher preparation; salaries for all teachers, as well as for teachers in high-need locales and in specific subject areas; teacher shortages; and other factors.

 

A commission of this type should make targeted recommendations to the governor and state legislature for discrete policy actions they can take in the near term to begin to address the areas that most need reform.

 

For school that have already done an analysis of the greatest needs, the commission could focus on a particular area, such as recruitment and retention in rural areas or higher starting salaries for new teachers.

 

I will hit the ground running  by penning executive actions, upon assuming office I will set up and do the following .

 

1)            Establish a school infrastructure task force:

2)            Convene a funding formula commission

3)            Create a commission charged with modernizing and elevating the teaching profession

4)            Issue a declaration of students’ right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and gender expression

5)            Issue a directive to redesign high schools and improve workforce readiness

6)            Form a task force to align school schedules and services with the needs of working families

7)            Set up a task force on school safety and positive school climate

8)            Establish a commission on the status of civics education

9)            Launch a task force on sexual health and education in schools

10)          Issue a proclamation on the need for evidence-based, positive approaches to school discipline

11)          Set up a monitoring team task force