Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State says Abia is perhaps the only state in Nigeria that is feeding public school pupils from primary one to six.
He said: “The Federal Government supports us to feed primary one to three, but we are feeding primary one to six, because we cannot afford to neglect any of our children.”
He noted this in a recent video documentary featuring education stakeholders geared towards brainstorming about some of the major challenges and successes of the state education sector since the inception of his administration in 2015.
Speaking further on the challenge of classroom and school expansion, Ikpeazu noted that since 2015, his administration has invested close to N50 billion and had built over 600 blocks of classrooms.
He added that he took the job of a governor because he saw gaps and needed to intervene in various sections of the state’s socio-economic sectors.
Recounting the government’s effort during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in the state and the challenges posed to the education sector, Ikpeazu stressed that Abia was one of the states that responded promptly by organising radio education programmes for primary and secondary school students.
He disclosed that he was one of the radio teachers, and that the programme was effective to the point that after the lockdown, the students performed excellently in their internal and external examinations.
Some of the teachers and cooks, who spoke about the School Feeding Programme (SFP), stated that the programme was not just a source of livelihood to them and their families, but also helped to supply pupils’ educational and nutritional needs as well as increased enrollment into public schools.
On teachers’ empowerment, Ikpeazu hinted that his administration set up a Continuous Education Centre, with the aim of bringing teachers and educators from outside the country and the state to teach and interact with Abia teachers, numbering 4,500, to enhance their capacity, expertise and morale.
The state’s Commissioner for Education, Mr Kanelechi Nwagwa, acting executive secretary of the Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB), Mr Christopher Osuagwu and the registrar of SEMB, Mrs Juliet Orji, concurred that, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, the state government was able to conduct both the internal and external examinations and the students did well, without any report of them or their examiners contracting the virus.
Commenting on the university level, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr John Kalu, stated that most of the challenges of the Abia State University have been addressed, adding that currently, four additional facilities have been added to the university with a stable academic calendar.
Mr Iheoma Ohaju of Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), while speaking on the challenge the state government encountered in accessing funds from the Federal Government for several educational interventions, said “for such funds to be accessed, the state government had to pay 50 per cent of those funds from 2012 to 2014”.
“The governor had to pay for years ahead of the ones under his administration,” Ohaju said.
While shedding light on the continuous education programme, the chairman of Abia State Continuing Teacher Training Centre (ABCTTC), Mrs Ngozie Miriam Nwaogugu, noted that the teachers were already trained but are now just being given up-to-date information and knowledge in their fields.
Chairman of Abia State Scholarship Board, Ambassador Empire Kanu, prided the board on sending Abia students abroad to countries like India, Sweden, Australia, among others to study on full and partial scholarships.
Former permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr MacJohn Nwaobiala, while giving recommendations on how the governor and other stakeholders could further address some of the challenges facing the education sector in the state stressed the need to make technical and vocational education a priority.
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