Gov. Ikpeazu's efforts in educational development in abia state: A right step in the right direction
Posted by Factnews | 7 years ago | 2,890 times
By Kingsley Maduforo
Education remains the most powerful empowerment tool within a community. Addressing the access to and improving the quality of education and providing a good learning environment will impact positively on our communities. To this end, Gov. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu is working assiduously hard to improve the standard of education in the state and he is proactive in providing Abia children qualitative education.
For the sake of transparency, the reduction of financial stress on the state and improvement in the quality of education in the state, upon assumption of office Gov. Ikpeazu initiated a pet project christened, the Friends of Abia School Adoption Initiative (FASAI).This initiative geared towards moving Abia forward is a private sector driven initiative aimed at involving well-meaning individuals within and outside the state to give back to the communities that moulded them, especially the schools that raised them.
The idea is that they are to volunteer and adopt indigent pupils, and renovate dilapidated structures of the school. When the schools are upgraded, the effect on the entire primary and secondary school system will be enormous and the hope of these students will be restored. This is the hope and dream of Gov. Ikpeazu towards our educational system.
In line with what has come to be known as physical infrastructure plus the idea behind the Friends of Abia School Adoption Initiative (FASAI), Gov. Ikpeazu recently flagged off the building of 4 model schools and 132 classroom blocks across the three senatorial zones of the state. In a press release by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Enyinnaya Apollos, the new model schools will have ten classroom blocks each, a library, laboratory, teachers' quarters, sick bay, 5 secondary and 3 primary classroom blocks, solar-powered borehole, perimeter fence and headmaster quarters.
In addition to the model schools, 132 new school construction projects will be undertaken with over 80 schools to be renovated while ten thousand school furniture will also be provided. The massive educational infrastructure improvement projects are expected to be executed through the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) and are expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2018.
One of the ideas behind Gov. Ikpeazu trip to North Carolina is for the state to partner with Abia state in the areas of Agricultural development, Healthcare, Technical Education and Investments in areas of mutual benefit. Education being one of his core ideas, the Governor prioritized it by visiting the Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina, Nancy McFarlane with whom he discussed ways in which Abia can partner with Raleigh to utilize the skills when it comes to technical education. The train of Gov. Ikpeazu landed him in Country Community Technical College where he requested for partnership in strengthening Technical Colleges in Abia state in furtherance of the Education for Employment (E4E) Technical and Vocational Education Programme of his administration.
Recently, the first fruits of the E4E in the state graduated from their various acquired skills and were issued certificate by the Governor. Education being a priority in the state, the Governor during the graduation ceremony admonished the graduating students to be good ambassadors of the state, and to help move the economic development of the state forward.
Abia state, in the recent ranking of the best performing state in the West African Examination Council, emerged as the overall best performer in WASCE, a position that the state has held for three consecutive times. In appreciating the students for a job well-done, Gov. Ikpeazu called on the newly inaugurated State Scholarship Board to ensure that the best performing student from each of the 17 local government areas are given tertiary education scholarship to study in any school of their choice in Nigeria.
This shows that the present administration under the watch of Gov. Ikpeazu is very committed in making sure the state maintains its prime position in educational ranking in Nigeria and also to serves as an example for other states to emulate.
Kingsley Maduforo, a Media Analyst, writes from Umuahia.
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