Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has reaffirmed commitment to create a conducive ecosystem necessary to improve the standard of education in the state.
Otti said this during the commemoration of this year’s World Teachers Day Celebration in Umuahia yesterday.
The theme for the celebration was; “Valuing Teachers’ Voices: Towards A New Social Contract For Education”.
The governor expressed the determination of his administration to improve the student-teacher ratio in public schools by engaging more teachers in schools across the state.
He said 100 public schools in the state would be rehabilitated before the end of the year.
He added that he had directed the Ministry of Homeland Security to provide adequate security in public schools for the safety of teachers, students and existing facilities.
Otti also said he had directed the discontinuation of all forms of discriminatory practices in the payment of teachers’ salaries.
He said government had retrained about 2,000 primary school teachers, while the retraining of secondary school teachers would commence in November.
In an address, the national president of the Nigerian Union Teacher (NUT), Mr Audu Amba, said the new challenges and trends in education had placed greater burden on teachers with expanded roles.
Amba, represented by the national secretary of the union, Mr Taiwo Akuben, said the current situation had raised the need for teachers to build their capacity and remain relevant in the teaching profession.
He commended teachers for their courage, sacrifice, resilience and commitment to their chosen profession and urged them to keep the flag flying.
The commissioner for basic and secondary education, Mr Goodluck Ubochi, said the government had organised continuous capacity building for teachers and infrastructural development in public schools for improved performance.
Ubochi said the government had prioritised teachers’ welfare and urged NUT to ensure that teachers reciprocate the gesture by living up to their responsibilities.
State chairman of NUT, Mr Friday Madu, said that the theme of the celebration highlighted the critical role teachers play in the future of education. He called on the government to empower teachers to drive innovation in the education sector. (NAN)
