Delta State Government, on Thursday, said the establishment of model primary and secondary schools in the state was to give children of school age, opportunity to acquire basic education without hindrance.

The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Chief Patrick Ukah, disclosed when he and his Information counterpart, Mr. Charles Aniagwu visited the newly established Government Primary School, Junior Staff Quarters, Asaba, which has state-of-the-art educational facilities.

Ukah said that the school was established by the Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa administration to address the growing need for a school in the densely populated area of Asaba.

“Before the establishment of this school, the closest primary school to this place was Uzoigwe Primary school which you could consider to be about four kilometres away from here.

“Then the next primary school is New Era which is equally about that same distance. The governor directed that we should put up a primary school here to take care of the educational needs of the people from this side of the town,” the Commissioner added.

He noted that the school, upon its completion, has 379 enrolees, 19 classrooms, kindergarten, primary one to primary six pupils, toilet facilities, football pitch and other academic facilities.

The Education Commissioner further disclosed that out of the 12 model schools approved by the previous administration in the state, 10 of them have been completed by the present administration.

According to him, a lot has been achieved in the education sector by the Okowa administration, emphasising that sports has become a policy in the state, just as he said that education curriculum has been reviewed with the infusion of trafficking in persons.

He, therefore, called on traditional rulers, opinion moulders and other stakeholders to help government mitigate the teething problem of vandalism in schools.

To address the issue, Chief Ukah said every child would be allocated a seat where he or she would account for such if destroyed, stressing that on yearly basis, over N700 million was spent by government for the provision of lockers and chairs in schools across the state.

The Commissioner said that Delta State was ahead of others in terms of infrastructural development and standard of learning, even as he enjoined students and pupils to maximise the conducive learning atmosphere to improve their academic pursuit.

On his part, the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, said that Delta being an education-loving state, would spare no effort in providing state-of-the-art facilities for pupils in primary schools as well as students in secondary and tertiary levels of education to learn.

Aniagwu said that the ongoing harvest of projects in all sectors of the state economy was a deliberate effort by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to address infrastructural deficit in the state.

He disclosed that the projects were also meant to create wealth through employment generation and meaningful engagement of youths in host communities.

“We want, as an education loving state, to provide that platform for our people to excel in their academic pursuit in a more conducive atmosphere.

“The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education is very much involved in the supervision and development of the minds of those who also impart this knowledge.

“So, they are not only supervising the provision of this infrastructure, they are also piloting the training and the retraining of our teachers

“The moment you build a new school, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education will tell you better, you will need extra personnel, the security man who is going to guard this school who doesn't have a job before now has a job as a security man. So, it is also part of our strategy to continue to create wealth for our people,” Aniagwu said.

•PHOTO: Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu (left), and Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Chief Patrick Ukah, while inspecting Government Primary School, Junior Staff Quarters, ahead of its inauguration in Asaba . . . Thursday, 18/3/21. PHOTO: JIBUNOR SAMUEL.

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