We’ll not allow education to go underground in Abia — Otti

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has said the state government will not allow education to be taken to the background in Abia State.

Governor Otti stated this while celebrating Abia children, Tuesday, during the 2025 Children’s Day held in Umuahia and assured that his government would continue to give extra priority attention to education programmes and policy choices that would have positive impact on the future of Abia children.

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Otti disclosed that contracts have been awarded to expand school blocks to accommodate the upsurge in enrolment based on introduction of free basic education in the state, stating, “As a government, we shall continue to give priority attention to programmes and policy choices that would have positive impact on the future of Abia children.

“I can assure you that never again will education be relegated to the background in the state of heroes like Michael Okpara. We have awarded contracts for the retrofitting and expansion of hundreds of public primary and secondary schools in the first instance.

“Things are expected to get even better in the months ahead as additional schools have been marked for structural improvements following the injection of funds from the Universal Basic Education Commission.”

The governor, who apologised to school children on behalf of the successive governments on the neglect of schools said that he is rebuilding education sector holistically, announcing that after delivering the first 20 smart schools, he would establish another 20 too.

“Today, I am glad to announce the dawn of a new era. We are holistically rebuilding the entire learning architecture in the State to answer to the demands of the new global order.

“In no distant future, we shall start delivering the 20 schools we are converting to smart schools to set a new benchmark for teaching and learning in the State’s public school system. Thereafter, another 20 will follow.

“You are already aware that we recently published the list of 5, 300 competitively-recruited teachers who are now being deployed not just to teach in our schools, but to become emblems of the new standard of excellence for our educational system.

“As you may be also aware, we have concluded arrangements to recruit additional 4, 000 teachers with a special bias for persons with competences in science, engineering, mathematics and technology,” Otti stated.

He announced that the era of rote learning in the public schools is gone for good, saying that, children would no longer be sent to reherse old ideas and cram their way to good grades as government has thousands of teachers across the state in modern pedagogical techniques so as to make teaching and learning participatory and engaging.

In her address, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Maureen Aghukwa, who disclosed that the theme for this year’s Children’s Day is, ‘Stand up, Speak up: Building a bullying free Generation’, said the theme resonates with the shared goal of fostering a safe, inclusive and nurturing environment for every child.

Aghukwa noted that bullying remains one of the challenges affecting children’s well- being, mental health and academic performance called on all to stand and speak out against bullying while assuring the commitment of the state government to championing the rights, welfare and development of every child in Abia.

“I urge parents to be vigilant and supportive, teachers to be vigilant and proactive, and community and ensure that their generation grows up in a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment.

“It is an opportunity to reinforce our commitments through policies, educational programmes, community engagement, and personal examples to eradicate bullying,” Aghukwa stated.

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