A new training is to help teachers master and communicate new changes in school curriculum, said education minister Ruqayyatu Rufa'i.

The week-long training covers mathematics, English language and basic sciences.

In what is considered the first since education authorities began pushing for capacity building and teacher development to be a central plank in the national strategic plan for education, teachers of technical subjects were left out this year for funding reasons.

Flagging off the training at Federal Government Academy in Suleja, Rufa'I said building capacity for teachers was key to helping teachers better "guide students and ultimately lead to improvement in their performance in public examinations."

Minister of state for education Nyesom Wike said: "As we approach 2015, not only are we looking at achieving EFA (Education For All) and MDG (Millennium Development) goals of access and equity in our education sector, we must begin to address the issue of quality," said Wike.

He said teaching must be based on evidence and of world class.

Visible improvements

In addition to direct training, interventions in education have come by way of renovating facilities and kitting school laboratories in a programme targeting science and technology education post-basic--known as STEP-B, funded by federal government and World Bank.

Since STEP-B began touching school facilities, its analyses show student performance has improved, said STEP-B's project manager Grace Takerhi.

Its latest analysis indicate performance has grown 30% since 2010.

In its latest project, it helped renovate and equip four laboratories at Federal Government Academy, a Suleja-based school said to take in only exceptionally "gifted and talented" children brilliant enough to speed through school curriculum faster than fellow students in other schools.

Similar renovations and equipping of schools are planned for three more unity schools in Bwari, Enugu and Benin City, but Takerhi observed the work will focus on putting up language and mathematics laboratories.