The Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) was established by the Enugu State UBE Law of 2005. The vision of the Board is to be an innovative educational organization with the highest quality employees, providing leadership programmes and services to schools, and achieving equity in access to free basic education in Enugu State. Each successive government in Enugu state has followed this footprint with different insights, keen interests, funding commitment, and an underlying incremental challenge.
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But since Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah assumed office on May 29th, 2023, as the 5th Civilian Executive Governor of Enugu State, he has left no one in doubt that he came to serve and to give our people, “Ndi Enugu,” the best in every sector, especially in the education industry.
From the unveiling of his manifesto to his inaugural speech and address in every forum, the Governor has continued to make it clear that: “Education for us is a key driver of our developmental effort. Our intervention will boost access to and understanding of ICT in early childhood learning and schooling.”
Like a man of his word and a visionary leader with the interest and future of our youths/children at heart, he did not waste time in fulfilling his promises and has gone ahead to revolutionize education with the building of 260 SMART Green Schools in all the 260 Electoral Wards in the State. The SMART Green School is a novel technology-based teaching and learning hub with experiential learning backbone aimed at preparing our children for a technology-driven economy that supports the modern industrial age.
Experiential Learning is a modern concept in education — an integration of theory and practical with technology tools to improve the quality of education and increase the effectiveness of the learning process. Governor Mbah has ensured the procurement of modern devices like laptops, tablets, Artificial Intelligence systems, among others to drive this innovative program. This is an innovation in the education system now sweeping across the globe. It marks a paradigm shift from the traditional method of teaching to a technology-based method of teaching and learning.
In the past two eventful years of Governor Mbah’s administration, he has continued to place basic education on the front burner, elevating it to unprecedented heights. The Smart Green School initiative of the administration is one of the major achievements recorded by his government. It stands out as a bold response to the shortcomings of the public education system in the state. It is the first of its kind in the history of basic education in this part of the globe, designed to launch our children into the superhighway of the science and technology age.
In keeping with the Governor’s commitment and initiative in the education sector, the new ENSUBEB Board within the period under review has demonstrated unwavering support to complement government efforts to transform basic education through its comprehensive reform agenda. Most of the achievements recorded by the Governor through the ENSUBEB Board are in the areas of monitoring, supervision, and evaluation of school activities. The Board carried out effective and regular monitoring/supervision of academic activities of pupils and teachers in various public primary schools in the state.
In all, more than 876 public primary schools in the state have been visited by the Board, and the result of the exercise was very impressive as class attendance was on the increase. Also, the Chairman, Board Members, Departmental Heads, Education Secretaries, and other Stakeholders in the Education Sector carried out inspection tours of the ongoing construction work in the 260 Smart Green School projects across the 260 Electoral Wards in the State.
The monitoring/supervision of the ongoing work on the school projects is to ensure that contractors are doing quality work to reflect contract specifications and the terms of the agreement. As we speak, the administration has completed about 100 Smart Green Schools in parts of the state, including the Smart Green School Owo, Nkanu East L.G.A.
The administration of His Excellency, Dr. Peter Mbah, believes in human capital development and this has enabled the government to organize in-service training and capacity-building workshops to improve the service delivery of the state workforce. Within the past two years, the administration, through the Board, has trained more than 5000 teachers and caregivers on the Reggio Emilia Approach to develop their capacity, knowledge, and competence.
In the 2023–2024 school year, all the Local Government Areas benefited from Early Child Care Development (ECCD) training in the state. The Board also organized some in-service training workshops for staff and refresher training for Social Mobilization Officers (SMOs) in the Local Government Education Authorities on topical issues, including school development planning.
The Teachers’ Professional Development (TPD) program of the Board has successfully conducted many sensitization meetings for all 68 Education Secretaries in the state to create awareness about teachers’ career path development during the 2023/2024 TPD Program. In addition, the Board has organized capacity-building workshops for Effective School Teachers on School Leadership Training, Instructional Technology, Digital Literacy, and Effective School Training. A similar workshop was also held to familiarize Head Teachers and Agric Teachers with the approved guidelines and build their capacity on the implementation of the agricultural program known as “School to Farm.”
There are also training exercises on general principles of environmental and social safeguarding measures that were conducted in a good number of schools in the state. The training program was designed to improve the social and environmental status of schools across the state, to help participants understand the importance of safeguarding pupils’ lives in school environment, and to educate stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding schools in the state.
In Enugu State, 80 public schools benefited from the Agric Education Training Programme, which is still ongoing. A good number of agricultural implements like shovels, wheelbarrows, hoes, and cutlasses were distributed to schools according to their needs, while about 70 schools benefited from training pupils and students on goat farming, poultry production, and irrigation crop farming.
Between June 2024 and March 2025, follow-up evaluations of some schools’ capacity-building and train-the-trainers workshops for Evaluators and LGEA officers were organized to strengthen their capacity as Master Trainers. Also, on-the-spot checks of public schools were conducted to ensure compliance with recommendations made from continuous quality assurance assessments of schools.
Over 100 Basic Primary Schools in Enugu East and South, Awgu, Nkanu East, Igbo Eze South, Oji River, Udi, and Udenu LGAs were monitored to ascertain the proficiency of learners in literacy and numeracy and to ascertain and ensure teachers’ class attendance.
The Board and Management also undertook a range of activities and recorded achievements that strengthened quality control mechanisms, enhanced instructional supervision, and promoted continuous improvement in the delivery of basic education in the state. These included effective monitoring of 60 schools in the first week of January 2024, a 3-day clinical supervision of 38 schools, monitoring of 50 schools, and daily school monitoring visits to about 340 schools. They also monitored end-of-term examinations and other curricular activities in 170 schools and carried out general quality assurance by UBEC/SUBEB Educators in some Local Government Areas of the state.
On 9th May 2025, the Executive Chairman of the Board, Assoc. Prof. Bank Okibe, flagged off the distribution of a large consignment of instructional materials to various Local Government Areas — Enugu East, Aninri, Awgu, Nkanu East, Isi Uzo, Igbo Etiti, Igbo Eze North, Udi, and Uzo Uwani — for schools in their areas.
The Board also established School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) in 1,212 schools and conducted monitoring and mentoring visits to 687 schools in the State. A total of 115 schools in the State benefited from SBMC-SIP projects, while 595 schools took part in its training programs.
On April 30th, 2024, under the Global Impact Water Innovation Limited project, 4,079 numbers of one-hundred-litre water tanks and aqua tables were distributed to public schools in the state. Also, a good number of schools benefited from the SBMC Community–Philanthropist relationship. These include Central School Obioma, Uwani River Primary School, Central School Awgu and Awgu 1, CPS Nsude, CPS Ikpamodu, and CPS Ikpa Iga.
Regarding staff welfare, the Board, with the approval of the Governor, conducted the 2023 promotion interview for its staff, and more than 3,000 teaching and non-teaching staff were promoted. The 2024 staff promotion exercise for more than 3,000 staff is already concluded. In addition, more than 26 Smart Green School teachers were recruited and many will still be recruited as we prepare to open the Smart Green Schools in September 2025 for academic activities.
In the area of welfare, the Board is up to date with the payment of staff salaries and allowances, and the staff also benefited from the ₦10,000 palliative allowance paid to teachers in the state by the government. It has also installed internet facilities and connected ENSUBEB to public water supply pipes, which are functional.
We are pleased to acknowledge that the Board’s accomplishments during the period under review stemmed from a strong sense of teamwork, diligence, and unwavering commitment from all staff members. These successes were also made possible by the exceptional leadership, encouragement, and steadfast support of our tireless Executive Chairman, the Board members, and the Management team.
We confidently assert that with the launch of Smart Green Schools by our education-friendly Governor Peter Mbah, basic education in Enugu State is set to reach remarkable new heights.
Assoc. Prof. Hyginus Banko Okibe
Executive Chairman