Akpabio Tasks JCCE on Education Problems

Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State has challenged the Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCCE), currently holding its 2010 reference Committee meetings in Uyo, to look at specific problems of education with recommendations to the National Council on Education for expedited solutions by the Federal Government.
Chief Akpabio who was represented by his Deputy, Engr. Patrick Ekpotu decried frequent changes in educational policies and programmes resulting in many policy somersaults, which are difficult to implement.
According to him, the 6-3-3-4 Education system, was not given a chance to fully mature before changing to the present 9-3-4 system which started in 2004. He noted that our various programmes and policies are not necessarily faulty to warrant frequent changes, adding that what Nigeria needs is effective implementation of the education system and policies adopted which should not frequently change.
The Governor, who also lamented that frequent changes in the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Education have contributed to the problem of inconsistent policies, programmes and curricula, affirmed that what Nigerian schools provide, “has now lost touch with demands of the labour market”, and therefore, require critical assessment and serious attention vis-à-vis the labour requirement needs.
He noted that in spite of investments so far made in the education sector, a lot of reforms and reorientation was still needed in the cultivation of positive values on service delivery by teachers, education managers and policy makers.
Emphasizing that “it is the duty of our public education system to teach basic skills for wealth creation and poverty eradication”, Governor Akpabio said JCCE must work to re-establish the relationship between the needs of the society and the school curriculum.
As a first step to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Chief Akpabio, who intimated the forum that his administration introduced free and compulsory education in Akwa Ibom State from Primary to Senior level in September 2008, expressed confidence that the meeting would generate innovative ideas and strategies designed to raise the standard of education, , not only in Akwa Ibom, but in the entire nation.
The Chairman, Joint Consultative Committee on Education, Mr. A., F. Salami, who also represented the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai, noted that the impressive turn out of delegates and stakeholders at the meeting was a testimony of total commitment of all to consensus building in policy development and implementation.
Reflecting on the theme of the meeting, Repositioning Technical and Vocation Education for wealth Creation, Mr. Salami mentioned that “governments at various levels are investing massively on technical and vocational education to attain the time bound, national and global goals…”
Noting that “the development of any nation depends largely on the kind of education that is available to its citizenry”, he said, that “it is not just education for the sake of it, but functional and qualitative education that propels a nation on the path of development, progress and greatness”.
Mr. Salami noted that technical and vocational education in Nigeria are ‘still fraught with problems of misconception of the nature and values of technical and vocational education, poor funding, poor planning, inadequate training as well as faulty implementation of curricula with emphasis only on knowledge acquisition instead of skill acquisition.
On his part, the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Nseabasi Akpan, said when the present administration came on board, schools were in serious state of disrepair and dilapidation, among other short comings in the education sector, but Governor Akpabio “came out with a new vision and made education the cardinal instrument for state development, thus setting a desperate agenda for rehabilitation and repositioning its entire educational system”.
Dr. Akpan observed that the “Free and Compulsory education by Governor Akpabio has brought about unprecedented turn around in the performance of our public schools and the return of discipline and learning culture to schools, have restored public confidence in public schools, thus raising pupils’ enrolment in public secondary schools in the state from 147,000 in March, 2008 to 267,194 in the last term of 2008/2009 school year”.
The Commissioner, stating the commitment of the State Government to the success of its Free and Compulsory Education programme, said, apart from giving priority attention to the welfare of teachers, more teaching and non teaching staff were being recruited to cope with the upsurge in the pupils’ and students’ enrolment.
The State government, he added, is paying subventions of N100.00 per pupil per term and N300.00 per student per term to public primary and secondary schools respectively, in addition to bursaries, grants and scholarships to deserving Akwa Ibom Students.