PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, on Tuesday, appraised the state of education in the state and concluded that people-centred government should, as matter of necessity, make educational development number one priority.
The former Secretary to Edo State Government stated this in a public lecture he delivered at the University of Benin, entitled: “Education in Edo State: The Way Forward.”
Ize-Iyamu, who recognised that every society is as developed as its educational programme, praised what he described as a solid education foundation laid by the founding fathers of Edo State such as Dr Samuel Ogbemudia and the late Professor Ambrose Ali.
He said many were not surprised that the products of that educational system dominated the public services, political, academic, corporate, legal, medical, military and paramilitary landscape of Nigeria for a very long time.
Picking hole in Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s education policy, Ize-Iyamu said the administration’s effort on education had been centred “largely or exclusively on re-roofing some selected urban and sub-urban schools for political sloganeering and propaganda.”
“The aluminium red roofs for these schools are not bad, but it is good to put the effort into a correct trajectory in the sense that it is State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) money and a joint effort of the federal and state governments where the former pays the lion share of the money.
“The question is: is building or roofing the only component of educational development? What about adequate number of teachers, facilities, the environment, security, motivation to learn?”
He said if elected in the September 10 governorship election, his administration would ensure that no Edo child is left behind.
, saying his administration would provide free and compulsory education from primary school up to the end of junior secondary school.
He added: ‘’The Edo State education programme will be driven by a determination to train Edo people to be skilled and competitive both nationally and globally through the adoption of the use of modern pedagogical methods including ICT and multi-media platforms.
“To this end, we will be biased towards science and technology, with particular emphasis on those courses that enable our youths to obtain technological skills that will enhance the development of the stat
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