The Cross River State
Ministry of Education says it will soon commence the closure of all sub-standard schools operating in the state.
The Commissioner for Education, Professor Offiong E. Offiong, who gave the indication during an interactive session with proprietors of private nursery, primary and secondary schools across the state, lamented that the poor standard of some private schools was totally unacceptable.
The commissioner said the interactive session was organized to provide a forum for the ministry’s management to share ideas with proprietors of private schools on the way forward in the provisions of qualitative education for Cross River children, adding that the minimum standard set by the ministry for all schools will not be compromised.
Offiong noted that operating a standard school is capital intensive and it should be left for people who have a passion and commitment for qualitative education. He vowed that his ministry will not overlook any inadequacies in the school system as this will negatively impact on the products of such schools.
The education commissioner urged proprietors to send their schools’ annual reports to enable the ministry review their performances, embrace Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and also provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning.
He promised to accommodate private school teachers in the State government’s teacher-retraining programme and re-emphasized the state government’s zero tolerance for examination malpractice, adding that the ministry will continue to derecognize private schools implicated in examination malpractice.
In their separate presentations, heads of departments in the ministry enjoined proprietors to pay their renewal fees, recruit only qualified teachers, pay government revenue promptly as well as ensure that their teachers register with the Teachers Registration Council, amongst others.
Reacting to the issue at stake, some proprietors appealed for a review of renewal fees, the cancellation of the arrears of outstanding fees and a good relationship with the ministry.
While the Cross River State Ministry of Education has expressed delight over the collaboration efforts of the Highbury College on TVET ecosystem, which led to the signing of contract agreement on the Institute of Technology and Management in Ugep that has led to the transformation of education sector in the state.
The State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Offiong E. Offiong, who stated this while briefing journalists, said the overall objective of the institute was to have a world-class TVET institution that would guarantee employability of 95 per cent of graduates of the institute.
He mentioned other major breakthroughs to include, Edu-comp e-learning ICT retreat, which marked the first step in their technology-enabled education drive, Teachers Computer Acquisition Programme and the accreditation of all the programmes at Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), the Cross River State College of Education, among others.
On emerging issues that have affected the education sector in 2013, the Commissioner said, “Nigeria is said to have 10 million out-of-school children, out of this number, 46,000 was credited to Cross River State,” noting that the major challenge is how to identify and mainstream this number of children.
Commenting on the activities and achievements of Boards, Agencies and Higher Education Institutions in the Ministry, Prof. Offiong said the achievements recorded by the ministry could not have been possible without contributions from them.
Chairman of the occasion, Prof Ebiegberi J. Alagoa (right) chating with Prof Kimse Okoko (up middle) Prof Ben Naanen of Uniport (left) during Pan Niger Delta Conference (PNDC) theme: The Niger Delta and the National Conference at Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, yesterday. Photo: Chris Monyanaga
