Billions of naira budgeted for education

When Godswill Akpabio was governor, the budget for education in the state in 2014 and 2015 was N10.9 billion and N16.7 billion respectively.

Five hundred million and N450 million was budgeted for the sector in 2014 and 2015 respectively for the renovation and refurbishing of buildings, including the provision of facilities, in 124 secondary and primary schools in the state.

The administration’s plan then, as documented in the budget, was to pick four secondary schools and four primary schools for renovation in each of the 31 local government areas in the state.

The Akpabio administration had specifically budgeted N100 million (in 2014) and N200 million (in 2015) for the renovation of boarding houses in secondary schools in the state.

That was beside the N100 million and N40 million budgeted in 2014 and 2015 respectively for the provision of 2,725 beds for 62 boarding schools and the N100 million and N55 million budgeted for in 2014 and 2015 respectively for the provision of 5,500 mattresses in secondary schools.

There was also provision for N300 million, both in 2014 and 2015 budget, as government subventions to 234 secondary schools heads.

Mr Emmanuel succeeded Mr Akpabio as governor in May 2015.

In 2016, N9.8 billion was budgeted for education by the state government, out of the N426 billion total budget sum.

In 2017, the education budget in the state was reduced to N8.620 billion, apparently following the decrease in the total budget sum – N365.251 billion – for that year because of the economic recession Nigeria experienced.

It is unclear what proportion of these budgeted funds were released during the Akpabio administration, and how they were utilised.

Several education monitors, supervisors, yet nothing to show

The state ministry of education has Area Education Officers (AEOs) spread across the state with the mandate to monitor education in local communities. There are also senior ministry officials whose job schedules include paying supervisory visits to schools and submitting reports on the condition of schools to higher authorities.

Governor Udom Emmanuel has four special assistants on education monitoring alone, with three of them covering each of the three senatorial districts and reporting directly to a Senior Special Assistant, Idongesit Etiebet.

Infographics produced by the state government and posted recently on Facebook by the state Commissioner for Information, Charles Udoh, claims the Governor Emmanuel administration has so far constructed and renovated 62 school blocks in the state, a number far less than that presented by the governor’s aide on education monitoring.

The infographics, titled ‘How Governor Udom Emmanuel spends your money’, did not, however, identify the schools where the “constructed and renovated” blocks of classrooms can be found.

“More than half of the public secondary schools are in ruins”

Akwa Ibom, with a landmass of 7,081 km², is said to have a population of five million, as at 2016.

The number of public secondary schools in the state was about 250 in 2016, and a good number of that number is in ruins.

The four science colleges – St. Mary’s Science College, Ediene Abak, Abak; Qua Iboe Church Senior Science College, Ndon Eyo, Onna; Lutheran Senior Science School, Ibakachi, Ikono; and Methodist Senior Science School, Oron – are in shambles.

So also are the technical colleges in the state – like the Community Technical College, Ikot Akata, Mkpat Enin and the Government Technical College, Abak, which have become eyesores because of their many dilapidated school blocks.

The Government Technical College, Ikot Adaidem, Ibiono Local Government Area, built through the assistance of the World Bank, has been closed down and abandoned to rot for several years now.

Almost everyone – teachers, parents, government officials, unionists and development experts – who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES acknowledged that the education sector in Akwa Ibom is at a critical juncture, pointing at the rate parents are now abandoning public schools for private ones and the poor performances of pupils and students in public examinations.

The situation has led to an increase in the number of private schools in the state.

For instance, the number of private secondary schools in the state was 120 in 2007, up by 106.90 per cent from the previous year, according to the World Data Atlas. The number increased to 422 in 2017, says an official of the state ministry of education.

“It is surely higher than that if we include those ones that are operating without license from the government,” the official says, adding that the number of private nursery/primary schools in the state is 699, as at 2017.

BininKingdom:
While the money from resources is been used to build railway to Niger Republic where Fulani jihadists will pass through, launch jihad against Nigeria and conquer it entirely

deomelo:



You sound like a byproduct of the same lousy education in Akwa ibom.

ITbomb:
If you know where we are coming from, you would appreciate the enormous resources used to bring Akwa Ibom up to where it is today

Most people in Nigeria call Akwa Ibom "Calabar", and that was because before Akpabio, Uyo and Akwa Ibom as a whole was just some town you pass through going to Calabar where everything was happening

darfay:
I blame the parasite north and their allies if Akwa ibom was a country with its enormous oil and low population it would be in the league of Kuwait and co but instead their money is spent on backward loving Sharia parasite like Zamfara and co not forgetting their corrupt leaders too

The situation has led to an increase in the number of private schools in the state.

For instance, the number of private secondary schools in the state was 120 in 2007, up by 106.90 per cent from the previous year, according to the World Data Atlas. The number increased to 422 in 2017, says an official of the state ministry of education.

Osun state, for the past five years, has remained among the three top Nigerian states with an unmistakable lead in university JAMB admissions into courses leading to the award of degrees in Engineering. The other two are Oyo and Ogun.

For Medicine, Imo, Anambra, Delta and Enugu have been in the lead for the past five years.

Akwa Ibom has also not been among the five best performing states in the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

BininKingdom:
While the money from thie resources is been used to build railway to Niger Republic where Fulani jihadists will pass through, launch jihad against Nigeria and conquer it entirely

ITbomb:
If you know where we are coming from, you would appreciate the enormous resources used to bring Akwa Ibom up to where it is today

Most people in Nigeria call Akwa Ibom "Calabar", and that was because before Akpabio, Uyo and Akwa Ibom as a whole was just some town you pass through going to Calabar where everything was happening

Now Akwa Ibom host international matches, has airport, modern roads networks and flyovers

Now Akwa Ibom is a destination, no longer a pass through.

Let's say, infrastructural development has been achieved to a large extent, Education and industrialization is now priority to this government.
After many years of embargo, teachers now being recruited. Schools rebuilt.

More still need to be done no doubt but the government is on track