Schools in Anambra State have been besieged by non-indigene pupils and students, coming to take advantage of the free education policy introduced by the state government, under Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
The State Commissioner for Education, Prof Ngozi Chuma-Udeh made the disclosure in a media chat to mark the 2nd year-in-office anniversary of the Soludo administration in Anambra.
Recall that the governor had announced free education for pupils of primary schools and students in Junior Secondary Classes One to Three, as part of efforts to avail every child access to education in the state.
In the Senior Secondary Classes, students are to pay only N5,000 termly.
According to Prof Chuma-Udeh, the policy has brought education to the doorsteps of the poor and the downtrodden in Anambra, irrespective of states of origin, who hitherto, have been shut out from schools due to the high cost of education.
She revealed that research conducted by her Ministry shows that Anambra indigenes are 3% lower in the schools than non-indigenes, who are taking advantage of the free education initiative to secure quality education for their wards.
“When we say free education under Governor Soludo, we mean absolute free education and not like we had it in the past, when government announced free education, but the students and pupils are taxed all kinds of levies and materials.
“So, with this development, many people especially from neighbouring states of Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Delta and the rest, have found education in Anambra State more beneficial and trooping in their numbers to the schools,” she said.
The Commissioner, who reeled out the achievements of Governor Soludo in the past 24 months in the state’s helm of affairs, said the governor categorized his interventions in the public schools into three namely- the quality of learning, the quality of the teachers and the learning environment.
“With this classification, Mr Governor had set out to address the key challenges in the sector. He started with the recruitment of 5,000 teachers in the first six months of his administration, to end the era of schools without teachers in Anambra. The state is also in the process of recruiting another 3,000 to serve in the rural schools, the special schools and the technical schools across the state.
“The governor is also paying the teachers well over what their contemporaries in other states are earning, as a way of boosting their moral to work.
”Also, training symposia and workshops are also being organized for the teachers to boost their capacity to impact knowledge on their students and pupils.
“On Tuesday, the governor distributed 2,000 laptops to Headteachers, ICT teachers and principals across Anambra State, to begin the digital revolution in the education sector.
“All these efforts in the improvement of the welfare and working condition of the teachers, will in turn, rub off positively on the students, as they will be fully empowered to training their pupils and students.
“In the area of infrastructure, the schools are being upgraded to make the learning environment more conducive for our children. The State Government through the Ministry, is also exploring partnerships with Old Boys and Alumni Associations of shcools to turn around the condition of their facilities.
“Overall, I can say that Governor Soludo is an education-conscious leader and serving as Education Commissioner under him is like a marathon race because he continues to inspire you towards greater accomplishments on a daily basis,” she said.
Chuma-Udeh revealed that plans are underway in a pilot arrangement, to upgrade 60 schools from across the state to Smart Schools.
These schools, she noted, will have the full complement of a digitized school, to drive the full digitization of all schools across the state.
“The Smart school initiative is to bring the state education system at par with those of developed countries like the US, UK, Singapore, Malaysia and many others.
“The distribution of laptops to teachers on Tuesday signposts the beginning of that journey. We have already commenced training in collaboration with the Solution Innovation District, SID, to ensure that the laptops are effectively put to use,” the Commissioner said.
