From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
Wemi Jones, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology addressing the gathering at the event
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has declared a state of emergency in education sector.
The aim, according to him, is to enable the state to regain her lost glory in education, like it was in the days of the Northern Region and Kabba Province.
The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Wemi Jones, stated this over the weekend at a meeting with Educational Task Force and some critical educational stakeholders in Kogi Central Senatorial District held in Okene.
He said the declaration of emergency in the education sector by Bello had brought in innovations and remodelling of secondary schools in the state.
According to him, with the state now having two universities, there is the need to adequately prepare students in secondary schools to fit into the vision of Governor Bello for quality assurance and to become self reliant.
Meanwhile, the decision of state governments to abdicate the responsibility of investing in basic education in their various states was the subject of debate by stakeholders during the National Education Summit which ended in Abuja on Friday.
The summit organised by Human Development Initiatives had as its theme: ‘Building qualitative, inclusive and adaptive education system: Meeting modern day education challenges in Nigeria’.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, demanded the declaration of a state of emergency in school infrastructure.
The stakeholders said while a good number of states did not appear enthusiastic about funding basic education, they (states) did not access funds in Universal Basic Education Commission.
Ihonvbere said the absence of policy consistency, poor funding and inadequate basic facilities was a major challenge in the sector.
While expressing concerns over state governments’ refusal to access their matching grants from Universal Basic Education Commission, he said that many state governments which had collected counterpart funding for education do not use it judiciously.
Ihonvbere said, “The Federal Government has their own schools which they are taking care of. But how can a state government stay for eight years without accessing its funds with UBEC? They don’t. And some, when they access the money, don’t deploy it to the right place.
“They budget money for education but they don’t release it for education, though not all the states as some are doing very well like Gombe, Borno, Lagos, Ekiti and Ogun. We want emergency to be declare on school infrastructure. The children are schooling under very dangerous buildings.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Wemi Jones has admonished Kogi people to key into the School Adoption and Mentorship Programme of the Education Ministry to boost quality education at secondary school level.
The Commissioner made the call at a meeting of the Ministry with the Education Task Force in the Central Senatorial District of the state held at Government Day Secondary School, Iruvucheba in Okene Local Government Area over the weekend.
The Commissioner disclosed that since assumption of office by Governor Bello led administration, government declared a state of emergency on education and had been taking practical steps to address problems in the sector.
“The State government had thrown sufficient weight behind education as it is the only way out to guarantee a sustainable future; but government cannot do it alone.”
He explained that the state government increased budgetary allocation for education to 30%, going beyond UNESCO’s benchmark and also embarked on massive construction, renovation and remodelling of schools; but that the people had to complement the efforts.
“Our brothers and sisters have to be involved, we must come together as a people to revamp education.”
“The government is committed to spending money, but after that, it is you and I that will supervise it’, he averred.
The commissioner lamented the acute shortage of teachers in the state assuring that government is working towards addressing the problem.
Jones said statistics showed that public secondary schools needed between three thousand to four thousand teachers, which he noted that government is aware of and is working towards engaging them.
He also charged Old Students Associations to give back to their schools; calling on those who have problems forming associations of their alma mater to contact the Ministry for assistance.
Jones commended the Central Senatorial District Task Force for their initiative coming together to complement the efforts of the Ministry to lift education sector to the next level.
Earlier, the Coordinator of Kogi Central Education Task Force, Muhammed Yusuf said the body was formed to promote teaching and learning in the area as well as addressing the increasing trends of school dropout and indiscipline among secondary school students.
The Community Chairman, Alhaji Oseni observed that the standard of education had fallen and called on government to redress the situation; while the Chairman of ANCOPPSS, Alhaji Abdulazzez requested that government should fix school infrastructure and employ teachers urgently.
The task force comprises of parents, teachers, Community leaders, Education Secretaries, members of ANCOPPSS and other stakeholders of education in the area.
