The Bayelsa State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the education sub sector of the State by initiating policies and programmes to sustain and improve on the massive gains already made in the sector.
This is coming on the heels of the State’s high ranking performance in the annual West African School Certificate Examinations, where it has consistently remained among the six best states in the country, since 2013.
Briefing journalists in Yenagoa, the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon. Jonathan Obuebite pointed out that, Bayelsa placed 6th in the latest WASC results released by the West African Examinations Council, stressing that, the development has placed the State as one of the most consistent in all external examinations in the last four years.
Ascribing the successful run to the educational policies and programmes of the Restoration administration in the State, the information and Orientation Commissioner recalled the inaugural speech of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson in 2012, where he declared a state of emergency in the sector and the subsequent follow up programmes, as a major turning point for the state.
He noted that the Governor and indeed the administration has remained resolute in the implementation of all its policies in the education sector, taking into account the massive decay of infrastructure and the disadvantaged position of the state.
Describing the educational policies and programmes of the Government from inception as legendary and remarkable in the history of the State, Hon. Obuebite explained that, over 500 hundred infrastructure were either developed or renovated across the State, coupled with a massive increase in public primary and secondary school intake, because of the free and compulsory education policy initiated in 2012.
According to him, as a serious minded government that, means well for the people of the State, it has followed up its initial policies by also introducing new all boarding secondary schools, including the iconic Ijaw National Academy, Kaiama and the others, spread across the 8 local government council areas in the State.
The commissioner noted with delight that, the new boarding schools have raised the bar for education in the state and are seen as special centres of excellence, in view of the state-of-the-art facilities and massive infrastructure, as well as the quality of academic staff on hand.
He stated that, the focus of the government is to move Bayelsa State and the Ijaw Nation to the very top of Nigeria’s educational chart, as well as position future generations of our people to be as competent and competitive with their contemporaries in other parts of the world.
“We can no longer play second fiddle to anybody or group of people in any part of the globe and the right way to pursue this agenda is to create the enabling environment for the present generation Bayelsans and the Ijaws, especially the children to acquire the right knowledge. And, the only way that can be achieved is to build good schools like we are doing now for our children”
Hon. Obuebite used the occasion to disclose that, the long vacation extra mural classes that was put together for all the students of the various boarding schools of the government holding at the Ijaw National Academy, Kaiama will come to an end at the school premises, with a colourful ceremony on Friday, 1stof September, 2017.