‘We tried to tackle illiteracy in the north’ – Ex President Jonathan

[From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa]

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said it was to reverse the crushing illiteracy in Northern Nigeria that informed the vision of his administration in setting up Almajiri schools in the region.

The former President made the assertion while delivering the keynote address at the maiden Bayelsa State Education Summit.

Jonathan said he discovered that many people in the north were already knowledgeable in Islamic education, but were lacking in Western education, hence could not fit into the modern society to earn decent living.

He said such an addition would have enabled the almajiris to be employable in their various states so that they would not feel that society had rejected them.

The five-day summit is aimed at developing a 15-year roadmap for education in the state with the theme: “Optimising the Delivery, Performance and Sustainability of Outcomes in the Education Sector”.

The former president said that such a roadmap once developed should be passed into law so that no succeeding governor could unilaterally alter it and stressed that everything must be done in the interest of the people.

According to Jonathan, development in the state should be based on education even as he emphasised the need for teaching of international languages as well as a transition to digital technology in the education sector.

He stressed that his recognition of the vital place of an educated citizenry was the reason behind his administration’s investment in Almajiri schools in the North.

“Education is a strategic tool for national development and social change. You cannot make progress without educated citizenry. People cannot develop without functional education.

“Today, ICT is key. It is replacing almost everything. The teaching of ICT has to start right from the nursery schools,” he said.

“If we must come together, we must have a common language.

“When you want to develop our educational policies, do not forget the languages because language is very critical in creating global citizens,” the former president added.

He said that in addition to teaching international languages, the state must have a central language like Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo which would be of enormous benefit.

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri while declaring the summit open re-echoed the former president stressing the need for a central language and urged the summit to look at all the missing links and explore avenues for the private sector to partner with government in implementing its vision for education.

Diri also called on international oil companies to provide special scholarships for children from oil producing communities as part of their corporate social responsibility.

He said Bayelsans must be global citizens and open up the state while urging the summit to consider far-flung communities in Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw and Brass local government areas while discussing digitalisation of education.

Commenting on the need to adopt a common language, Diri said that the state executive council had already adopted Kolokuma as the chosen dialect and directed the Ministries of Education and Ijaw National Affairs to ensure implementation of the policy.

“Language is not only critical in education but also in establishing one’s identity, and conscious efforts must be made to ensure our language does not go into extinction,” the governor said.

He called on stakeholders in the sector to develop a 15-year education plan that could be reviewed periodically to enable Bayelsa people to take their rightful place in the country and the world.

Diri also assured that his administration would continue to support the model schools he inherited from his predecessor and called for support from the private sector, particularly the oil companies operating in Bayelsa.

Chairman of the state Education Development Trust Fund and one-time Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun, represented by Prof. Francis Sikoki, said the board remains committed to providing interventions in the education sector.

In their goodwill messages, chairman of the state traditional rulers’ council, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, representative of the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr Dan Kikile, and a representative of the Managing Director, Sterling Bank, described Diri’s vision on holding the summit as brilliant.

They said that it was time to put Bayelsa on the global map, particularly in the area of education.

In his welcome address, the state Commissioner for Education, Gentle Emelah said there was need to move education to the next level while reeling out the achievements of the Diri administration in the past two years.