politics in nigeria



source:www.nigeriapoliticsmagazine.com


The Justice ,Development and Peace Commission, JDPC, Onitsha V2P voice of the people project, recently dragged Professor Kate Omenugha, the Hon Commissioner for Education in Anambra State,to the people”s court over education in Anambra State.

The programme titled “Education dialogue with ministry of education, Anambra State,had for its theme”Strengthening community partnership in school management” held at the Sun City Hotels Awka, drew participants from Anambra West,Anambra East, Ihiala,Idemili South,Idemili North,Ayamelu,Dunukofia and Ogbaru local Government Areas.

The Executive Director.JDPC Onitsha,Rev Fr Edwin Udoye,set the ball rolling by revealing findings of the people to the commissioner. He said”We found out that in schools, illegal fees are collected by teachers which Government don’t know about.Books in use are poorly produced and most times pupils are told to buy them and the{books} are not used in teaching the pupils. We also found out that schools don’t have enough teachers eg in parts of Anambra State,100 pupils are managed by one teacher .Retired teachers are not replaced and PTA teachers are being used. Teachers employed are not promoted and many of them don’t know how to teach. In some parts of Orumba and Anambra North,many teachers don’t go to work but receive pay. Some schools have no boards or seats in those areas.”

He requested that state and local government areas put supervisors in State and LGA to monitor education and teachers,give teachers promotion and build quarters for teachers in the rural areas-as many live in Onitsha.He advised that Government partner communities to supervise and monitor teachers.

In her response,Prof Kate Omenugha said ”Education is the responsibility of all of us ,not government alone.the only thing that can lead the son of a poor man to become president is Education.It is the duty of Anambra people who want Education to go well ,to pay tax.If you don’t pay tax, there is no way Government can work and do all things highlighted .It is when you do your responsibility then you can hold government responsible.

The commissioner told the people that Governor Willie Obiano has continued renovation of schools,over 400 schools have been renovated,over 300 million naira given to mission schools and advised people to bring to her notice any where work is not going well..

Still speaking on Gov obiano”s giant strides in education,she said that a school based management committee has been set up, each secondary school in the state receives N500,000 yearly to use on small projects,while each primary school gets N250,000 for the same purpose.the state has also commenced fencing of Schools at Awka Etit,Ogidi girls,Anglican girls,Mater Amabilis Umuoji, and other major girls schools in the State.

She said that the state under Obiano has increased internal generated revenue from N400,000 to N1.2 billion, cut overhead expenses of commissioners and that Government teaches how to do more with less ,and that in budget 2016,primary schools in Anambra State would be equipped with desktop computers. she revealed that under her watch, Anambra produced the best teacher in Nigeria, came second and third nationwide among principals and school heads.The state came first among all secondary schools in Nigeria and second among all primary schools in Nigeria.Five Anambra children would be going to Croatia to represent Nigeria in world school debate and are the defending champions in Nigeria school debate and they retained the victory again in 2015.Teachers in certain area, receive 20 % of basic salary as incentives, the same for English and maths teachers. Last year ,one bag of rice was given to each teacher in Anambra state.

On the other issues raised by JDPC Voice to the people V2P,on use of PTA teachers,s he said they can contribute as it is for the benefit of the children”In primary schools,over 1000 teachers have retired,while 300 retired from the secondary schools,the vacancies would be filled with time .The people should monitor collection of illegal fees-we don’t have free Education in Anambra state senior secondary, junior secondary is free. I blame teachers for books bought and not used. Parents should make sure that their children read the novels. Books poorly printed are pirated copies. Any levy or fees to be paid,must be agreed at PTA meetings with members of ministry present. On the lap top issue, we found out that teachers teaching ICT have never used laptops, we changed all that. We are giving our kids education comparable with any in the world.We all went to public schools.”

She stated “we are trying to bring back our technical schools, We have started campaign for vocational and technical studies,and we seek partnership with hotels and construction companies,We have over 285 adult education centers in Anambra state and are among the three top state with the lowest illiteracy rates in Nigeria, each market in Anambra now has an adult education school inside it.”

Answering questions from the people ,professor Omenugha revealed that the state has been closing miracle centers and blamed parents for encouraging such enterprise,which destroys students,on collection of illegal fees in schools. She advised all to tell her about specific schools collecting such money, so that they can be investigated.’

Most of the questions and complaints from the people’s court were on lack of fencing of schools, lack of teachers, illegal fees and the pathetic case of community school mgbakwu whose two schools blocks are collapsing, the school has no chairs or tables and they are no private schools in the area,and that of enu obodo central school whose school roof was removed since 2 years ago and that of five schools in umunachi{especially central school}which lack desks ,sports and science equipments or lap tops.