SKLD Integrated Services, a technology-enabled manufacturing and sourcing solutions company, has partnered with Sterling Bank to host the first edition of the Educational Supplies Showcase 2024 (ESS2024). The event which took place on July 31 was intended to bring together key stakeholders in the education sector (school owners and representatives, parents, educators, etc) and providers of digital technology, stationery, and other school resources to foster collaboration and discuss critical issues that affect education.
As the world becomes more technology-inclined schools and education stakeholders have to stay up-to-date with current trends. In order to have a future in Nigeria where education meets up with the demands of the world, there needs to be more collaboration among stakeholders and leading providers of educational resources.
The maiden ESS2024 was an opportunity for these stakeholders to explore and learn about the latest tools and materials available to enhance the learning process, network and share resources, and discuss important issues like financing. Speaking of this collaboration with Sterling Bank, Tayo Osiyemi, executive director of SKLD Integrated Services, said, “For us (SKLD) we think that we need to bring value to schools because they are doing significant work of nation building. Education impacts all of us and quality education is not cheap. Our focus at SKLD Integrated Services is to find a way to deliver quality educational resources to stakeholders affordably and foster collaboration among stakeholders. We believe that, if we can partner with a financier/financial partner that sits well within the area where schools have the most challenge then we can bring value to schools.” he said.
A history of valuable impact
As valuable members of the educational community, SKLD Integrated Services has demonstrated its capacity to facilitate these stakeholder conversations by engaging meaningfully with this community for decades.
Founded in September 2000 by the managing director Temilola Adepetun, SKLD Integrated Services was originally a retail company called School Kits Limited. It was created as an intervention for parents who would typically go to multiple locations to find the right educational resources for their children. Parents and guardians would usually visit multiple markets for textbooks, stationeries, school uniforms, etc. Now with SKLD Integrated Services (name changed in 2020), parents and guardians have a one-stop-shop for quality school supplies and office and lifestyle products.
Today the company has a network of seven brick-and-mortar stores located in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, Nigeria, an online store for nationwide delivery which receives over 50,000 visitors monthly, and they partner with over 600 schools within Nigeria
SKLD operates in five sectors. The company runs a B2B retail brand, Skit Store, that caters to school, office, and lifestyle needs. This division works directly with schools, and private and government parties in the education sector. This division is also responsible for organising the first educational supply showcase event.
The other four divisions include a distributorship business that works with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to provide critical equipment for schools, corporations, and governments. This division distributes products for brands like Casio, Epson, Cannon, HP, M&G Stationery and other OEMs. Under the brand Marcel Hughes the company manufactures school uniforms, footwear, and other school supplies. The company also has a corporate services unit which focuses on for-profit business and non-educational resources. Under the brand Weave Worx the company manufactures environmentally-friendly garments. Weave Worx makes safety apparel, corporate apparel, and workwear such as coveralls, scrubs, lab coats, security outfits, chef and maid uniforms.
Lastly, SKLD Integrated services has a humanitarian procurement services business, SKLD Relief. SKLD Relief partners with NGOs to provide products for humanitarian interventions.
Fostering conversation among stakeholders
The ESS2024 event saw a keynote address delivered by Folasade Adefisayo, commissioner of Lagos State Ministry of Education. In her speech she extolled the value of collaboration and the need for schools to leverage technology for learning. She also addressed the funding problem in education citing the need for the government to invest in schools and the responsibility of the government to support and subsidise certain services to make the country more conducive for educational supply businesses.
This keynote speech was followed by presentations by SKLD Integrated Services’ partners. Representatives from Canon called for schools to partner with them for the Canon Academy Juniors programme to help raise the next generation of content creators (photographers, videographers etc). There were also presentations from EPSON the makers of printing machines, M&G Stationery, ValueSTek the interactive display manufacturer, Marcel Hughes the school supplies manufacturer, and CASIO known for their calculators and watches.
The event included a panel hosted by Tayo Osiyemi with panellists including Doris Chinedu-Okoro, CEO of Evergreen Schools Enugu; Emmanuel Tarfa, CEO Krypton IP; Moses Egwuom, managing director of Goldenville School; and Njideka Nwabueze, group head of the Education Sector at Sterling Bank. The theme of the panel was “Empowering Education: The impact of learning resources on the quality of education in Nigeria”. The panellists spoke on the tools educators and schools need to provide quality education and provided solutions to common education problems.
On the question of what essential tools educational institutions require to prepare future-ready students, Emmanuel Tarfa advised educators to make sure their curriculums and classwork reflect real-world problems and offer solutions. Moses Egwuom advised schools to empower educators to start teaching from the basics. These basics include teaching students fundamental tech skills like Microsoft Office and Google’s suite of products. He also advised educators to seek out partners to enrich their classrooms. Doris Chinedu-Okoro on the other hand, advised school leaders and educators to be proactive and not to wait for the government before seeking out collaborators to improve their classrooms and refresh their content curriculum.
Speaking on behalf of Sterling Bank, Njideka Nwabueze spoke about the role financial institutions play in supporting educational institutions in acquiring educational supplies. She extolled the power of strategic partnerships and Sterling Bank’s drive to support education. Sterling Bank provides asset financing for schools and educators and makes low interest loans accessible for teachers and parents. Currently, the bank provides educational device financing for students and members of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and has partnered with uLessons to provide whiteboards. The bank also makes available online soft-skills training for teachers and provides other resources to improve educational infrastructure on their website EduBanc. The focus of the bank according to Njideka is on making an impact in education by funding the acquisition of learning aids, materials, and resources.
The road ahead
The success of this first ESS2024 is an endorsement of SKLD Integrated Services’ goal to facilitate collaboration among education stakeholders. The event was an opportunity for school owners, administrators, and procurement managers to speak directly to OEMs, voice their concerns, and get value from these interactions.
Speaking of the future, Tayo stated that SKLD Integrated Services hopes to continue to be a major proponent of driving accessibility to education technology tools and infrastructure for schools. “We know that education now can no longer be conceived as a strictly in person/analog platform and we have to be able to drive it digitally. Our future at SKLD Integrated Services is to be much bigger on driving this education technology. We are willing to work with public and private stakeholders and also the government to continue to drive access to quality learning materials and quality education across board in Nigeria and beyond.” he said.
The event ended with a showcase of individual services/products by partner brands.
Visit the SKLD website here to find out more and connect.
