Exposed! Despite billions of naira invested, Bayelsa schools still in deplorable state
[From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa]
In recent years, particularly from the administration of the immediate past Governor of Bayelsa, Chief Henry Seriake Dickson, the state government has been beating its chest and blowing a loud trumpet over achievement in the education sector.
One can still recall that each time Dickson mounted the rostrum to speak, he would regale himself and the audience with his ‘unprecedented’ achievement in the sector.
When the former governor converted the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Kaiama to the Ijaw National Academy, and set up the University of Africa in his village, Toru Orua, Sagbama Local Government Area, the trumpet became even louder and deafening.
On the whole, the Dickson administration said it spent over N70 billion building schools and providing academic infrastructure in the state.
However, even while this picture of Eldorado was being painted of the state of education in the state, pervasive strike action by teachers in public schools in the state was rife on account of poor welfare. Again poor facilities and inadequate teaching and non teaching staff in the schools made the situation even worse.
In one instance, a youth corps member deployed to the state and posted to one of the schools in Yenagoa, the state capital, went out of her way and raised some money to provide desks for the students who were sitting on bare floor to learn.
This was in the state capital, one can imagine what the situation would be like in schools in the far flung communities that are not yet accessible by road.
It goes to say that merely providing physical structures and reeling out huge amount of money spent in providing them, without other basic essentials like conducive class environment would make the entire effort pale into insignificance.
The disturbing report of the deplorable state of many public schools in the state despite the state of emergency declared in the education sector by the immediate past administration prompted members of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ), Bayelsa chapter last week to embark on a fact finding visit to one of the schools near Yenagoa, the state capital.
The visit took the correspondents to the Gbaranowei Grammar School, Okolobiri near Yenagoa where the correspondents met the students of the school writing their promotion exams seated on bare floor.
It was learnt that Gbaranowei Grammar School was established in 1973 as a boarding school for both boys and girls and has produced eminent students including Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ayibaina Duba, among others.
However, the condition of the school has deteriorated with two dilapidated classroom blocks without ceilings, seats, doors and windows.
From all indications, the school has not had even a whiff of the touted emergency declared in the education sector in the state. The walkway was bad and over 100 students writing examination in one of the classrooms with so many others sitting on the bare floor.
It was revealed that the school has had the challenge of lack of seats since most of them were destroyed during the 2012 flood and the few seats were due to the effort of parents under the Parents Teachers Association (PTA).
In one of the classrooms, SSS2B, there were just 11 seats that could contain three students each for 79 science students and 35 arts students in the school which has total student population of over 2,000.
The staff room was no better with not more than eight tables and chairs and majority of the teachers having to stand due to the same challenge of lack of school furniture.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ayibaina Duba said the government was aware of the situation and something was being done to address the situation.
Duba disclosed that the Ministry of Education had carried out a NEEDS assessment to determine the particular challenges facing each school in the state.
He said the challenges including school furniture, lack of teachers and the state of buildings were being addressed, disclosing the state government had purchased some seats and expressed shock that Gbaranowei Grammar School did not get any.
Interestingly, the state Commissioner for Education, a former lawmaker, Hon Gentle Emelah shut his door against the correspondents who sought to know why the present administration appears not to be keeping to the modest standard set by the immediate past administration in the sector.
Indeed, the schools in the state are in dire need of the Midas touch of the ‘Miracle Governor’.