Destiny Eseaga
The Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board has launched the second phase of the Jolly Phonics Literacy Project in partnership with international not-for-profit organisation, Universal Learning Solutions. Already, over 1000 Primary 1 teacher s have been trained in this innovative early grade literacy approach and this week, a further 1000 primary 2 teachers will be trained and resourced in the leading international literacy tool, Jolly Phonics.
Jolly Phonics is a fun and interactive teaching tool that uses the synthetic phonics literacy teaching methodology and it is recommended by governments around the world because of the way that it quickly provides children with the skills needed to read and write.
Technical Director at Universal Learning Solutions, Naomi Foxcroft, thanked the Ogun SUBEB Chairman, Alhaji Abdul-jeleel Okewole for initiating the programme. “We are delighted to be partnering with Ogun SUBEB to train, resource and mentor its teachers in Jolly Phonics. I would particularly like to thank the chairman for his wisdom, strength and initiative in inviting us to work in Ogun State. This project will make the futures of children in Ogun State brighter.”
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Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gary Foxcroft, praised the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC for its continued support for the adoption of Jolly Phonics in government schools across Nigeria. He said:
“UBEC has really recognised the tremendous impact that Jolly Phonics has been having on literacy levels in Nigeria’s government schools and have taken it on as one of their flagship programmes. This has helped us to initiate new projects in several states. Jolly Phonics is now being used in all Nigerian states with widespread impact seen. This is truly amazing and will help to improve the reading and writing abilities of over one million children over the next two years. I appeal to all stakeholders, especially teachers and parents, to look out for this approach and key into it so that Ogun State may have the highest literacy levels in Nigeria.”
Universal Learning Solutions has also been collaborating with other federal level agencies, such as the National Commission of Colleges of Education (NCCE) and National Education Research and Development Council (NERDC), in order to ensure that the use of the synthetic phonics method in Nigeria is sustainably embedded into the education system.
