SEPLAT's Teacher-Driven Initiative: Empowering Educators and Transforming Classrooms in Edo and Delta

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In classrooms across Nigeria, the teacher often holds the single greatest influence over a child’s academic success. Re­search from Education Next Jour­nal (2024) summarising ten large-scale studies found that teachers performing one standard deviation above the mean can significantly boost student gains in reading and mathematics, clear evidence that teacher quality directly shapes learning outcomes.

Globally, the stakes are just as high. UNESCO’s 2024 Global Report on Teachers projects that the world will need an additional 44 million primary and secondary school teachers by 2030 to meet Sustain­able Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) targets. Sub-Saharan Africa faces the steepest climb, requiring 15 mil­lion of those new educators, about one-third of the global shortfall.

In a system like Nigeria’s, where public education grapples with un­derfunding, uneven teacher train­ing, and overcrowded classrooms, the question is not just how to recruit more teachers, but how to equip them with the tools and con­fidence to thrive.

Amid these systemic challenges, one initiative, quietly growing year after year, is showing how focused teacher empowerment can ripple far beyond the training hall.

In mid-2025, the Seplat Teachers Empowerment Programme (STEP) welcomed 650 educators, a mix of classroom teachers and Chief In­spectors of Education, from Edo and Delta States. They emerged from a pool of 4,666 applicants, re­sulting in a competitive acceptance rate of just 13.9%. For STEP’s or­ganisers, the goal has never been sheer volume; rather, it is about selecting educators with both the readiness and the reach to influ­ence their schools, districts, and peers.

The onboarding process began with intensive two-day, in-person workshops, held in Benin City on July 28–29 for Edo State and Asaba on July 31–August 1 for Delta State. Far from being simple orientation sessions, these workshops set the foundation for a four-month virtu­al training cycle blending STEAM pedagogy, leadership development, and digital skills. The cycle ends with participants earning Micro­soft certification, a credential that carries weight in both the public and private sectors and can open career advancement opportuni­ties.

Recognising that modern teach­ing demands more than chalk and talk, STEP equips each participant with an Android tablet preloaded with the STEP learning app and a curated library of resources. To ensure equal access, Seplat also provides mobile data throughout the training period.

This is no small intervention in Nigeria, where broadband pene­tration remains around 50%, and many rural schools struggle with sporadic or non-existent internet access. In such contexts, the tablet becomes more than a gadget, it is a portable library, a science lab, and a professional development hub.

On the pedagogical side, STEP emphasises STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) teaching techniques suited to Nigerian classrooms. The model favours inquiry-based learn­ing, project-based collaboration, and peer-to-peer teaching, methods shown to boost both engagement and retention. During onboarding, teachers begin designing their own school-based projects, which they will refine and implement during the virtual mentorship stage.

A key differentiator in STEP’s approach is its insistence that teachers are not simply conduits for curricula, they are leaders and in­fluencers in their communities. At the Edo workshop, Seplat’s Director of External Affairs & Social Per­formance, Chioma Afe, delivered a session titled “Communication for Change – Teachers as Agents of Change.” Introducing the 7Cs of effective communication, clarity, conciseness, consideration, com­pleteness, courtesy, concreteness, and correctness—she positioned teachers as active shapers of cul­ture and progress.

Similarly, Seplat’s Director of Corporate Services, Dr. Steve Ojeh, led sessions on leadership and self-motivation. His message was direct: “Propel your career from within.” This mirrors Nigeria’s National Education Strategic Plan (2021–2025), which calls for re-es­tablishing teaching as a high-sta­tus profession with continuous de­velopment opportunities. STEP’s framework doesn’t just train skills, it cultivates professional pride.

This emphasis on leadership and professional identity is already in­fluencing how participants view their roles beyond the classroom. Many teachers shared plans to launch school-based clubs, initiate peer-learning groups, and advo­cate for community-led education projects upon returning home. By aligning personal growth with sys­temic impact, STEP ensures that its alumni don’t just adapt to educa­tion reforms, they drive them.

STEP’s influence is amplified by strong ties to state governments. In Edo, Commissioner for Education Dr. Paddy Iyamu, representing Governor Monday Okpebholo, de­scribed the programme as offering “packages people travel abroad to train for” and committed to veri­fying completion through direct collaboration with Seplat.

In Delta, Commissioner Rose Ezewu, represented by Director of Schools Ighavbota Winifred, high­lighted STEP as an investment not only in education but in communi­ty transformation. Such endorse­ments help anchor STEP within state policy frameworks, ensuring it complements, rather than com­petes with, official teacher training efforts.

Since its inception in 2020, STEP has trained 1,334 teachers and Chief Inspectors of Education in Edo and Delta States. Seplat esti­mates that these alumni now reach over 100,000 students annually.

The February 2025 Seplat Edu­cation Summit, marking the grad­uation of the 2024 cohort, offered a glimpse into these transformations. Lydia Aiganigbee of Chinel Uni­verse Academy reported that her lessons had become “more interac­tive and engaging.” Ereraka Lucky Ovie of Agbor College, named top-performing teacher, called the programme a “game-changer” that made learning participatory and socially relevant.

Beyond individual classrooms, STEP’s ripple effects are visible in school management practices and community engagement. Gradu­ates of the programme have intro­duced peer-to-peer teacher men­toring, developed context-specific lesson aids from local materials, and fostered stronger parent-teach­er collaboration. These innova­tions, once isolated, are now gain­ing traction across participating schools, signalling a shift toward sustainable, system-wide improve­ment in teaching and learning quality.

The urgency of such initiatives is clear in Nigeria’s own data. The National Bureau of Statistics (2023) found that only 61% of upper pri­mary pupils demonstrate basic numeracy skills, and 47% of junior secondary learners show science competency. These gaps are com­pounded by a shortage of fully qualified educators. According to UNESCO’s 2021 Global Education Monitoring Report, only 67% of pri­mary school teachers and 61% of secondary teachers in sub-Saharan Africa meet their countries’ mini­mum training standards.

Against this backdrop, STEP’s blend of subject mastery, technol­ogy integration, and leadership skills reflects international best practice. For instance, the UK’s Education Endowment Foundation has documented that structured teacher collaboration can yield the equivalent of four additional months of learning per year for students, a principle that STEP’s group projects and peer mentoring aim to replicate.

Beyond addressing skill gaps, programmes like STEP also re­spond to the growing call for educa­tion systems to produce adaptable, future-ready learners. The World Bank’s “Learning Poverty” initia­tive warns that without transfor­mative teacher development, over 70% of children in low- and mid­dle-income countries may leave primary school without basic lit­eracy by 2030. By embedding criti­cal thinking, problem-solving, and digital fluency into its pedagogy, STEP not only aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) but also posi­tions Nigerian teachers as catalysts for equipping students with the competencies needed for a rapidly changing world.

With two onboarding cohorts in 2025, STEP’s alumni base will ex­ceed 1,900 educators. But numbers alone do not guarantee transfor­mation. Sustained impact requires institutionalization, alumni becom­ing mentors, reform advocates, and trainers for their peers.

The current four-month virtual mentorship provides a bridge from theory to practice, but education experts note that longer-term fol­low-up and cross-cohort networks could help lock in gains. Seplat’s challenge will be scaling equitably, ensuring that rural and digitally disadvantaged teachers are not left behind. While the company miti­gates some of these barriers with hardware and mobile data, future expansion may need localised train­ing hubs and state co-funding mod­els to keep participation inclusive.

As the 2025 cohort transitions into the mentorship phase, their tablets, leadership toolkits, and STEAM project plans become in­struments of gradual but mean­ingful change. STEP repositions teaching from a daily grind into a vocation with agency, creativity, and prestige.

If the programme’s 650 newest members carry these approaches back to their classrooms, and if they in turn mentor colleagues, this could catalyse a sustained shift in how education is delivered in Edo, Delta, and potentially beyond.

Nigeria’s education system still faces enormous structural chal­lenges. But STEP’s growing foot­print suggests that when teacher training is intensive, well-support­ed, and professionally validating, it can spark ripple effects that touch not just students but whole com­munities. In a country striving to achieve quality, inclusive education for all, such ripples could become waves.

Beyond classroom practice, STEP alumni are influencing school culture and community en­gagement. By integrating STEAM projects with local problem-solving, they position schools as hubs of in­novation. This not only strengthens student learning outcomes but also fosters partnerships with parents, local businesses, and civic groups, further embedding the idea that education can be a driver of com­munity development.

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