On Thursday, September 5, 2019, Akwa Ibom State held its maiden education summit and exhibition tagged “Human Capacity Development for Sustainable Transformation of Persons and Society” The summit which attracted teachers, policymakers, students, labour leaders among others was aimed at charting the cause for the development of the education sector in the State.
The summit was also a good platform to sell Governor Udom Emmanuel’s idea that education was the best platform that can give equal opportunity to every Akwa Ibom child to succeed.
From classroom interaction to counseling and knowledge transfer by teachers, to networking and friendship that can breed connection after school; Governor Emmanuel sees education not just as a tool to fight poverty and insecurity but as a platform that can inspire love, foster unity and create rooms for innovation and creativity.
To us in Akwa Ibom, Africa cannot afford to be left behind in the quest to create a sustainable environment and sustainable policies for the sake of tomorrow. This was not just the position of the State Government during the summit but the desire and the commitment of Governor Emmanuel to make a difference in the education sector.
“We are not just doing one of those political gatherings. we are determined to change the structure, the content and the education output in Akwa Ibom State” – Governor Udom Emmanuel.
Governor Emmanuel believes that education should respond to the changing needs of society, especially by training students to be self-reliant. Thus, his intervention in the education sector over the years has strengthened the government education agenda through effective monitoring, training, and re-training of teachers and the provision of grants and scholarships to deserving Akwa Ibom students.
Governor Emmanuel understands that we live in a global economy, and our graduates are competing for jobs not just with Akwa Ibomites but with other part of Nigeria and Africa. So he has made the development of our education system an integral part of his developmental agenda.
Under his leadership, over 364 classroom blocks has been constructed/refurbished, the government has provided basic teaching aids like Computer and books to public schools, over 600 million naira is spent yearly for West Africa Certificate Examination (WAEC) to all students who are indigenes of Akwa Ibom State and there is consistent monitoring of public schools to ensure that the output of our teachers matches with or surpasses the input from the government.
Apart from monitoring public schools for maximum output, the education monitoring team also looks at lapses in the educational sector, engage with appropraite stateholders and provides feedbacks/recommendation to the government for actions.
I know by now, you’ve settled into the New Year, you’ve made your resolution, please let your resolution this year includes more investment in books and reaching out to our younger generation to take advantage of our free and Compulsory education.
Our dream of making our State the hub of education tourism in Africa will not work without your support.
We are open for suggestion,colloboration and partnership.