Rivers Govt restates commitment to basic education
Barth Ndubuwah,Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Government has reiterated its commitment to the provision of equitable access to education in the State.
The State Chief Executive, Nyesom Wike stated this Thursday, while playing host to a delegation from the Universal Basic Education Board at the Government House, in Port Harcourt.
Represented by his Deputy, Dr (Mrs) Ipalibo Harry Banigo, Governor Wike said, “basic education is fundamental and our belief is that no single child should be out of school in Rivers State. As future leaders we need to equip our children and we need to encourage them,” he said.
The Governor urged them to take cognisance that “we need to have instruments for supervision, which includes monitoring vehicles and boats, to enable us to reach out to communities, especially the riverine and remote areas,” adding that there is a need to build permanent schools to accommodate those centres that have no formal schools.
“We will give them the structure they need and of course, we need to incorporate and encourage ICT-driven education, so at the end of the day we will give them quality skills that will enable them to create jobs, earn jobs, and feel fulfilled in what they are doing, so we can have the leadership we need in the future when we are not there,” Governor Wike said.
The Governor, who disagreed with the report of the National Bureau on Statistics and National Population Commission, said their visitation was mostly done on households instead of looking at the learning centres, which may have compromised the results and urged them to come back and visit the actual learning centres and not households.
The Governor who insisted that no single child should be out of school, said basic education is key and the foundation, stressing that “when you build a child you have built a nation.”
In his response, the Leader of the delegation, Dr. Isiaka Olayinka Kolawole who is the Deputy Executive Services Secretary, said they were in the State in continuation of their advocacy visit to all the BESDA States.
According to him, their mission here was to ascertain and establish the status of the implementation of BESDA Program in Rivers State and to identify and discuss those issues that are hindering the success and implementation of the BESDA program. He commended the Rivers State Government and the State Universal Basic Education Board for its determination to improve the educational status of the State.
