Monday, 21 September 2015

Govt Has Not Abolished Free Education, Ebie Insists


DELTA State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, yesterday, re-emphasized that the state government had not re-introduced tuition fees for the 2015/2016 academic session in the state.

Ebie who dispelled the rumours steadily making the rounds that the state government had re-introduced tuition fees in the state at a press conference in his office, disclosed that the claim was totally false and baseless, adding that there was no time such issue (re-introduction of tuition fees) was either discussed or even contemplated.

According to him, the administration of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa is a responsible and responsive government that has come to serve the good people of Delta, pointing out that one of the key areas of focus of the Okowa’s administration is education.

“One of the key areas of focus of this administration is education and in doing so, our sole mission is the gradual and steady recovery of the standard of education within the state which is in line with the SMART agenda of the state government”, the Commissioner said.

Since we are not a government of quick fixes or ‘hit and miss’, he said, we will take out time to properly understand the issues and problems through the acquisition of accurate and verifiable baseline data of all our primary and post primary educational assets.

Ebie reiterated that the state government would soon convene an education summit of all stakeholders to discuss pertinent issues bothering on education and future of children in the state, saying that “that way, all stakeholders would be carried along in determining sustainable solutions to the issues at hand”.

Speaking further, the commissioner listed the areas that require focus and attention to include improving the ministry’s oversight functions in the areas of monitoring and supervision of private and public schools to maintain standard; infrastructural upgrade of public schools; provision of chairs, tables and desks for both teachers and students; equipping schools with teaching aids and equipment; provision of subvention to public schools; career growth of teachers and review and improvement of curriculum among others.

While saying that some of the policies of the previous administration in the state such as the payment of WAEC fees are being continued, he affirmed that “our biggest initiative is the ongoing revolution in the area of technical and vocational education where we have taken a holistic approach in revamping and refurbishment of three out of the six technical colleges spread across the three senatorial zones”.

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