Alex Otti affirms commitment to improve standard of education in Abia
Gov. Alex Otti of Abia has affirmed his commitment to create a conducive ecosystem necessary to improve the standard of education in the state.
Otti said this during the commemoration of this year’s World Teachers Day Celebration on Saturday in Umuahia.
The theme for the celebration is “Valuing Teachers’ Voices: Towards A New Social Contract For Education”.
The governor expressed the determination of his administration to improve the student-teacher ratio in public schools by engaging more teachers in schools across the state.
He said that 100 public schools in the state would be rehabilitated before the end of the year.
He said that he had directed the Ministry of Homeland Security to provide adequate security in public schools for the safety of teachers, sudents and existing facilities.
Otti also said that he had directed the discontinuation of all forms of discriminatory practices in the payment of teachers’ salaries.
He said that government had retrained about 2,000 primary school teachers, while the retraining of secondary school teachers would commence in November.
In an address, the National President of the Nigeria Union Teacher (NUT), Mr Audu Amba, said that the new challenges and trends in education had placed greater burden on teachers with expanded roles.
Amba, represented by the National Secretary of the union, Mr Taiwo Akuben, said that the current situation had raised the need for teachers to build their capacity and remain relevant in the teaching profession.
He commended teachers for their courage, sacrifice, resilience and commitment to their chosen profession and urged them to keep the flag flying.
In a speech, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Goodluck Ubochi, said that the government had organised continuous capacity building for teachers and infrastructural development in public schools for improved performance.
Ubochi said that the government had prioritised teachers’ welfare and urged NUT to ensure that teachers reciprocate the gesture by living up to their responsibilities.
Also, the state Chairman of NUT, Mr Friday Madu, said that the theme of the celebration highlights the critical role teachers play in the future of education.
Madu called on the government to empower teachers to drive innovation in the education sector.
He commended the government for organising capacity building trainings for teachers and the resuscitation of the state scholarship programme that no fewer than 5000 Students benefited from.
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