Kogi State Commissioner for Education, Hon Wemi Jones, has reiterated the Governor Usman Ododo-led administration’s avowed commitment to structured and accelerated development of education sector in the state.
Jones made this known while welcome the Executive Secretary of National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), Dr. Iyela Ajayi, and his team to Kogi state.
The Commissioner assured NSSEC that Kogi state will surpass the commission’s National Minimum Standard for Senior Secondary Schools.
He explained that 30% of Kogi state annual budget is devoted to education and the current administration is building on the successful template of the immediate past government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
He announced that the Governor Ododo-led administration has designed an education developmental policy that will facilitate government intervention in one senior secondary school in each of the 21 local government areas of the state annually. With this, he explained, 21 schools will get special attention every year. In four years, he added, 84 schools will benefit from the policy.
The commissioner noted that the State had concluded the process to recruit over 3000 teachers out of which 1,100 had already been employed.
He noted that the state government had plans to establish model science secondary schools in every local government, with four schools expected to be built in each local government in four years.
Jones added that the state government had declared free education with the payment of WAEC, NECO, JAMB, NABTEB, JUNIOR WAEC, as well as all internal exams in the state.
The Commissioner expressed confidence in Dr Iyela Ajayi’s capacity to drive NSSEC to greater heights, and assured the commission of Kogi state government’s readiness to partner with it.
In his address, Dr. Iyela commended Kogi government’s massive investment in education, and promised the commission’s intervention in secondary schools.
He specifically commended the state government for the construction of GYB Model Science Secondary Schools (GYB MSSS) in the state.
Ajayi described the infrastructures at GYB MSSS Lokoja as a standard model school with standard classrooms, laboratories, ICT centre, library as well as sporting facilities.
He, therefore, commended the State Government and the Commissioner for Education, Hon Wemi Jones for revamping education to a greater height in the state.
The NSSEC executive secretary assured Kogi Government of massive intervention in the areas of infrastructures, equipping of laboratories, ICT centres and libraries in secondary schools in the state
Ajayi, however, appealed to the state government to prioritize the welfare of teachers to enable them to deliver quality education of high standard to the students.
According to him, teachers play significant roles in educational sector, stressing that it has become imperative for state government to focus on capacity building of teachers to enable them impact the desired knowledge on the students.
“If you ignore teachers, you have succeeded in ignoring education. No matter how beautiful the structure of your school is, if there is no teachers then nothing has been done because such school would only be producing students that are of poor quality,” he said.
Ajayi noted that the proposed national minimum standards would set benchmarks for the establishment and operation of senior secondary education across the country.
He said that sanctions await any secondary schools that jettison the proposed minimum standard in their operations.
He emphasised that the minimum standard would significantly reposition the sector, which had suffered neglect and deterioration in terms of staffing, infrastructure and equipment, thereby leading to the production of poor-quality students.
The NSSEC Executive Secretary commended the Principal of GYB Model Science Secondary School Adankolo, Lokoja, Chief Ajofe Yakubu Yakubu, for adequately maintaining and keeping the school facilities clean at all time.
He charged the principal to sustain the maintenance culture and ensure standard teaching and learning as a reference model school.
Other schools inspected include; Government Secondary School Koton-Karfe, GYB Model Science Secondary School Lokoja, Crowther Memorial College and Scintillate School, Lokoja.
