The All The Nigeria Confederation of Principal of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) has called for adequate funding of education to address the increasing number of out of school children in the country.
It made the call in Asaba, Delta State capital at the 65th Annual Conference of ANCOPSS, suggesting that government should demonstrate the political will to improve the education system by committing resources into educational development at all levels.
Declaring the event open, Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, represented by the chief of staff, Johnson Erijo, said the government within the first hundred days had approved the recruitment of teachers at the local level and extended the retirement age of educators as part of policies to enhance learning in the state.
“We have extended the retirement age from 60-65 and years of service from 35-40. Government has made effort as well to pay pensions and gratuity,” he said.
The national president, Confederation of Secondary School Principals, Mohammad Musa, said education is capital intensive, and a long-time investment.
He added that the leadership of the country must have the political will to commit resources into education, saying that would be the only solution.
Similarly, the secretary of the state wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, (NUT), Dan Basime, highlighted challenges affecting the school system like the gap in teacher/student ratio, examination malpractice and dilapidated buildings in many public schools.
“Our students don’t want to read, instead they want to pass by all means. A conference like this is here to address that challenge,” he said.
Meanwhile, president of the state chapter of the Confederation of Secondary School Principals, Lady Emeni Ngozi, who acknowledged some teacher friendly policies of the state government, including the establishment of a professional development centre for training of educators, also urged the administration to support the body to establish a state secretariat.
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