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By Adeyemi Robinson-Adefioye, Lagos
Lagos State Government has set a new pace in public service and administration with the formal launch of the Learning Management System (LMS) by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday.
The initiative is one the outcomes of a reform introduced by the Sanwo-Olu administration in the State’s civil service to leverage innovation and technology in driving radical change in the public sector and addressing capacity deficit, enhance efficiency and competence among civil servants.
LMS is a technology-driven platform developed with Envivo Communications – a tech firm – to enhance capacity development in the public workforce through continuous training. From the platform, the State Government can seamlessly administer, document, track report and deliver educational courses and training programmes for staff in civil service.
The innovation phases out low training quota in the State’s civil service, in which Lagos Government, prior to the Sanwo-Olu administration, used to train an average of 3,000 staff in four years. With the introduction of LMS, the State can successfully train an average of 50,000 staff of its workforce in a year.
Already, 42,446 of the State’s over 150,000 civil servants have been on-boarded on the e-learning portal.
Launching the platform, Sanwo-Olu said the innovation would raise the bar of service delivery among the civil servants, stressing that the platform would expose the personnel to a wide spectrum of opportunities for enhanced competence and efficiency.
He said: “Our administration places a premium on the competence of the Public Service to deliver government policies, strategies and programmes for the benefit of the people. It is, therefore, necessary that we equip our public service personnel with the requisite skills and learning tools needed to thrive in a 21st century economy and a knowledge-based environment.
“The launch of the Learning Management System, today, is a crystallization of the reform process, which our administration initiated to improve service delivery in public administration and governance. It is commendable that the public service personnel have embraced the innovation, which will further enhance their capacity to deliver quality and timely service to citizens of our State.
“It is encouraging to know that 42,446 public servants from the various Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Parastatals have been on-boarded on the platform, which has a variety of learning contents with over 4,000 free, self-enrolment courses and 8,000 courses from the LinkedIn Learning Library.”
Sanwo-Olu encouraged members of the State’s workforce that are yet to sign up on the platform to do so, pointing out that the platform would offer them opportunities of international standards in their quest for personal and professional development.
The Governor pledged that his administration would not relent providing opportunities for career enhancement, trainings and personal development programmes for the State workers.
“As we intensify efforts to make Lagos a 21st century economy, our workforce will be equipped with what it takes to contribute their quota to global development and we will ensure that our developmental activities are driven by cutting edge knowledge, innovation and technology,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The Governor commended the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, and staff of the Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions for bringing the innovation to reality. He said the State Government was set to make free monthly data available for civil servants on their mobile phones.
Muri-Okunola said the LMS marked a distinct paradigm shift from the instituted traditional training methods to an interdisciplinary format, which leveraged ICT to effectively impart knowledge with limited resources.
He said: “The State Government takes this giant stride in providing this robust learning platform, which will not only motivate the State workforce, but will positively influence the standard and quality of service delivery significantly. It is pertinent that all public servants are well informed about the platform and have a good understanding of how to navigate through its portals.”
Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pension, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, said the learning system was the first in Nigerian public sector brought to fundamentally address the root causes of public service failures.
She said the State’s workforce would have access to over 1,000 basic courses provided by Envivo iClass suite, while also disclosing that Sanwo-Olu had approved a partnership with a content library, LinkedIn Learning, which would give the workforce access to over 8,000 global best practice courses, certificate programmes in various disciplines.
“With this platform I am confident that inspite of these turbulent times around the world, Lagos State stays on top, playing a vital role even in its bureaucratic process and ensuring its workers are well equipped to perform their roles and deliver service to our citizens,” Ponnle said.
In demonstrating the seamless navigation on the e-learning portal, Sanwo-Olu took the first course on capacity building and got real time assessment on the spot.
