The Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, commenced the first phase of a technology-driven education initiative under the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) Programme by distributing tablet devices to designated junior secondary schools across the state. The presentation ceremony was held at the Ministry's headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, as part of a collaborative programme involving the World Bank, the Federal Ministry of Education and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). The initiative is designed to strengthen education management through improved digital tools and evidence-based decision-making.
During the ceremony, the Director of the Project, Planning and Research Department, Mr. Opeyemi Martins, announced that participating junior secondary schools would receive 30 gigabytes of monthly internet data from Airtel to complement the deployment of the tablets. According to the Ministry, the data support is intended to improve internet connectivity and facilitate more effective teaching, learning and education management activities within beneficiary schools.
The Director of Basic Education Services, Mrs. Toyin Oyedele, emphasised that the tablets remain government assets and are not assigned as personal property to school administrators or teachers. She instructed beneficiaries to safeguard the devices and ensure that they remain within the schools whenever personnel are transferred, thereby preserving continuity in programme implementation and institutional asset management.
In the first phase of implementation, 160 tablet devices were distributed to designated junior secondary schools across Lagos State. The Ministry stated that subsequent phases would extend the programme to all junior secondary schools statewide. Officials explained that the devices would support digital data collection, monitoring, reporting, educational planning and broader improvements in school administration while contributing to technology-enabled education management.
The BESDA tablet deployment represents a significant executive-government investment in digital education governance rather than a conventional classroom technology intervention alone. While the devices will support teaching activities, the programme places considerable emphasis on strengthening education administration through improved data collection, monitoring, reporting and evidence-based planning across the state's basic education system.
From a governance perspective, the initiative demonstrates collaborative implementation involving the Lagos State Government, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Universal Basic Education Commission and the World Bank. This intergovernmental and development-partner model combines external technical support with state-level implementation to modernise education management and strengthen institutional capacity.
The provision of recurring monthly internet connectivity alongside the tablets indicates that the programme extends beyond hardware distribution to include operational support necessary for sustained digital service delivery. Equally important are the administrative safeguards requiring that the devices remain institutional assets, reinforcing accountability in the management of public resources while ensuring continuity of programme benefits despite staff transfers.
See Consolidated Analysis: Lagos State Policy Tracker: July 2026 Governance Index and Key Reforms | Updated July 29, 2026