Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State yesterday donated 12, 480 writing desks and chairs for primary school pupils in the state and 868 tables and chairs for teachers to improve the standard of learning.
Donating the furniture to the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), Gov. Ugwuanyi who was represented by his Deputy, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo said that the initiative was part of the infrastructural reforms being undertaken by his administration to ensure that pupils and teachers in the state primary school system studied under very conducive classroom environment.
Governor Ugwuanyi remarked that education remained a top priority in his reform agenda, given the fact that it is the pivot on which the other arms of development revolve.
The governor noted that he was moved to procure the items after his visits to public schools at the beginning of his administration to ascertain the situation of infrastructure.
He added that his administration made strong commitments in its 4-point agenda to “deploy government services to create fair opportunity for every willing citizen to make a living and create wealth, educate our children and enjoy life in a peaceful and secure environment.”
Gov. Ugwuanyi disclosed that his administration was committed to ensuring that children are comfortable in their classrooms in order to make the job of teaching easier for teachers, revealing that 90% of the renovation and reconstruction of about 370 classroom blocks in the public schools across the state have been completed.
While warning that “the era of allowing contractors to play with government projects has gone”, he reiterated the state government’s resolve to engage contractors who are willing to abide by the terms of contractual agreement.
“We shall continue to respond to the needs of these children in schools because their comfort and safety today guarantee the comfort and safety of our future”, the governor said.
In his remark, the Chairman of ENSUBEB, Chief Ikeje Asogwa expressed appreciation to the governor for what he
described as “a brave and noble gesture”, pledging to maintain the furniture as well as ensure that they were put to good use.
He assured that the distribution of the furniture would be equitable as the chairmen of the 17 Local Government Areas and the acting education secretaries were involved
in generating the list of benefiting schools based on needs and scale of preference.
Other dignitaries that graced the occasion included: the commissioner for Education, Prof. Uchenna Eze.
