The Enugu State Ministry of Education, has reiterated the state government’s commitment to continuous upgrade of facilities in its schools across the state for conducive learning and more qualitative education.
The State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze, who made the disclosure, said the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, through the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), has constructed and renovated close to 900 classroom blocks, including toilets and provided modern lockers and chairs for primary school children; tables, arm chairs and armless chairs for the teachers, as well as ceiling fans and marker boards for teaching, in the 17 local government areas.
It will be recalled that the ENSUBEB, mid last year, procured and distributed 22,150 lockers and 22,150 chairs for primary school children, 1,228 tables, 1,228 arm chairs and 2,456 armless chairs for the teachers, as well as 1130 marker boards for teaching and 1,960 ceiling fans, for conducive learning environment.
Speaking when he led the Chairman of ENSUBEB, Chief Ikeje Asogwa and his team, to inspect facilities at Practicing School I,2,3 &4, Emene, Enugu, on Wednesday, Prof. Eze stated that Gov. Ugwuanyi has special interest in the wellbeing of school children in the state.
He noted that despite inheriting a lot of infrastructural decay in the education system, the state government has committed enormous energy and resources in addressing the challenges to ensure that the schools are transformed for conducive learning.
The education commissioner maintained that Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration has spent more money in the education sector, after works and infrastructure, than other sectors, revealing that construction and renovation of more classroom blocks with toilets and other facilities in Practicing School, Emene, had earlier been captured in the next intervention, immediately the state government accesses the 4th quarter of 2016 – 1st quarter of 2018 of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) counterpart funds, which is in the pipeline.
Prof. Eze who pointed out that some buildings in the school had already been marked for renovation and demolition, revealed that the number of classroom blocks executed so far by the present administration, according to statistics, “out-numbered the renovations and constructions done from 1999 to 2014”.
Stressing that basic education is fundamental, the commissioner emphasized that the state government’s commitment “to bring all our classrooms to a level that will make our learning environment conducive is sacrosanct”.
Also speaking, the Chairman of ENSUBEB, Chief Asogwa, stated specifically that the present administration in Enugu State, has constructed and renovated over eight hundred and ninety (890) classroom blocks, including toilet facilities, across the 17 LGAs of the state, among other interventions, worth over N9.8 billion.
He added that “the state government has also employed 3,530 primary school teachers and has distributed lots of school furniture totaling about 45,000 durable plastic desks and chairs, among others, aimed at improving the learning process”.
His words: “We have also tried, as much as possible, to transform instructional materials that they use in the classroom. Now, instead of the old black board system, they have white boards in the classrooms. For the children to study in a better environment, we now have ceiling fans in the classrooms too.
“The decay we inherited was quite enormous. But today, the learning environment is being improved; the teaching system is also being improved. We have also conducted a lot of training and retraining of our teachers and that is still ongoing. Our intervention in the education system is a continuous process because there is no way we can address all the challenges the same time. It is step by step considering our limited resources.
“So a lot is being done to ensure that we improve the education sector. The Governor is seriously interested in improving the education sector. The state has committed over N9.8 billion in the last four years just for primary education and an EXCO approval has also been received for additional N1.5 billion.
“This shows that the state government’s level of commitment to quality education of our children is high and commendable”.
