Pix of Abia State Commissioner for Information and information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu
Abia schools’ resumption: students, pupils return to behold security operatives, teachers with new skills
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
As schools in Abia state reopen for the 2024/2025 academic year on Wednesday, September 23, 2024, students and pupils would return to not just behold security personnel at their school gates but also teachers with new skills.
This is because the state government has commenced deployment of security personnel to public schools to ensure security of lives and property and embarked on retraining of teachers to fit into the education reform agenda of the state.
At a news briefing after the weekly State Executive Council meeting last Monday, the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, announced that the state government has shifted the resumption date for public and private primary and secondary schools in the state, from 16th to 23rd September, 2024.
The Commissioner explained that the shift in the earlier date was “occasioned by a public holiday that would fall on the 16th of September which is a Muslims’ holiday.”
The shift would enable the state to complete the training of 2, 000 Master Trainers under the Abia First Teachers Training programme. The first batch of 200 teachers had earlier been trained in Umuahia under the Master Trainers programme and training of the remaining 1, 800 teachers would recommence in three centres of Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia from 11th through 24th September 2024.
Teachers trained under the Master Tariners programme would in turn teach the rest of the teachers in primary and secondary schools in the state.
“The training is part of the wider agenda of the state government with regards to the reformation of the education sector in the state and forms part of the protocol for the resumption of schools for the new academic year” Prince Kanu said.
During last week’s post-state EXCO meeting media briefing, the Information boss disclosed that the Abia State Universal Education Board (ASUBEB) has put in place a number of protocols for resumption of schools.
“Schools in the state will be resuming on September 16, 2024 and to that effect, the Abia State Universal Education Board (ASUBEB) has put in place, certain protocols in that regard.
“The Board, under its Abia First Education Reform Programme, is poised to train 2, 000 Mater Trainers. Already, 200 Master Trainers have passed through the programme and the remaining 1, 800 trainers would be trained. This is part of the wider agenda of the state government to reform our education system,” Kanu had said.
According to him, the Board had also interviewed and shortlisted 40 teachers for special training under the Abia State School Enhancement Team Programme, a quality assurance initiative, preparatory to the resumption of schools.
Furthermore, the Commissioner said that as part of the ongoing reforms in the educational sector, ASUBEB has earmarked about 7, 746 staff for promotion, adding that “this is in keeping with the state government’s commitment to the welfare of our teachers and a way of motivating the teachers to contribute their quota to our educational system.”
Still on the reforms, Prince Kanu also disclosed that the posting of security personnel to public schools in the state has begun, a measure, he said, was aimed at safeguarding lives and property in the schools.
“Also as part of the ongoing reform agenda in the educational system, the promise that the state government made in the past has come to fulfillment with the posting of security personnel to our schools.
“Posting security personnel is aimed at securing the lives and property of both, the students, teachers and the property of the schools involved,” the Commissioner said.
Contributing, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Dr. Kenechukwu Nwosu, stated that the government was mapping out all the schools in line with their security needs assessment, adding the state was also considering fencing schools in the state.
“We know that our schools have long issues of vandalism, hence, the AVS (Abia Vigilante Services) is being deployed to the schools. It is not only in Umuahia, we are also expanding to Aba and to other parts of the state as the Abia Vigilante Services continues to build required capacity,” Nwosu said.
Also, speaking, the Executive Chairman, Abia State Universal Basic Education (ASUBEB), Lady Lydia Onuoha, said the government has properly selected the teachers that would benefit from the planned trainings from the 17 Local Government Areas of the state.
She further explained that the Abia State School Enhancement Team would be the eye of the government in the schools to ensure proper compliance to guidelines and plans of government in the schools.
