THE Ondo State governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu on Thursday, called on stakeholders in the education sector to review school curriculum and provide workable solutions to the myriads of challenges confronting the education sector.
Akeredolu, who stated this at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Education Summit, held at the International Cultural and Event Centre in Akure, frowned over the deplorable state of public schools in the state and expressed his administration determination to reposition and develop education in the state.
Akeredolu, who called for solutions to tackle many problems confronting the education in the state noted that the state which used to be the envy of all other states in the field of education, now parades vestigial relics of that glorious past.
He said “Virtually all public schools are in a sorry state. No serious society allows such pervasive decadence in its system and expects progress.
“The fact that the Government is seen as the main provider of employment for the citizens confirms the state of monumental failure of the current system. The practices associated with the sector cannot lead to real development.”
He, however, said the Summit was
put together to address the manifest gaps discernible in the system and to proffer realistic solutions to the problems facing education in the state.
“Your realistic inputs will be of tremendous assistance to our administration keenly desirous of charting a new course with regard to its avowed determination to introduce a purposeful and functional system of training.” the governor said.
He assured that his administration would study and follow the outcome of the stakeholders’ decision to reposition education in the state.
In his opening speech, the state commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology, Mr Femi Agagu, said the summit became imperative to identify the area of deficiency in the sector and to reposition the education sector in the state.
Agagu said the two-day event titled: “Repositioning Education for functionality and Technology Growth” is “to ensure functionality in education and technology growth and also to reposition education for better performance and optimal results.”
“The summit is also to eliminate communication gap between the State government and education stakeholders in the state and to involve all and sundry in education policy formulation in the state among others,” he said.
He explained that “a cursory look at the state philosophy of education indicates that it is based on the development of individuals into sound and effective citizens and the provision of equal opportunities for all citizens of the state at the basic and tertiary levels, both within and outside the formal school system.
“This has brought the idea of organising a virile Education Summit that would proffer solutions to the identified problems in the sector,” Agagu said.
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