Education
Enugu, June 5, 2018, ( NAN) The Enugu State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze has emphasised the need for sound primary education as a foundation for other levels of education in Nigeria.
Eze made the call in Enugu on Tuesday while flagging off the `Improve Learning Outcome’ Project organised by South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSSDO) and funded by TY Danjuma Foundation.
The commissioner noted that primary education was the most important basis of education because it was the foundation on which all other levels of education were built on.
He explained that the training was targeted at mainly primary school teachers for effective teaching and learning in schools.
“A child that does not have sound primary education will find it difficult to excel at any other level of education,” he said.
Eze stressed the need to always partner with non-governmental organisations to train teachers so they could be equipped with relevant skills as government alone could not do it.
“There is no teacher that has learnt all the person needs to know to put in his best and that is why the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) always clamour for training and retraining for teachers,” he said.
The commissioner urged teachers to build their self confidence by displaying sound knowledge which could only be got by learning new things each new day.
“We look out for NGOs to assist in the task of equipping teachers with relevant skills and competencies that will make them effective and more efficient in the classroom,” he said.
Eze said the state government placed much emphasis on primary school education which was responsible for the aggressive renovation and erecting of additional primary schools.
The commissioner appreciated the organisation for the initiative and for contributing towards helping the state government to reposition the education sector in the state.
In his remarks, the Chairman of ENSUBEB, Chief Ikeje Asogwa urged the participating teachers to take the training seriously because it was meant to improve the capacity of schools to provide quality education for children.
“When teachers are equipped with the required knowledge, competences and skills necessary for effectiveness in the modern contemporary society, it will in turn produce pupils who are not only literate, numerator but also self-reliant,” he said.
Asogwa pledged his continuous support for any programme geared towards repositioning schools in the state for quality learning and education.
Earlier, the Executive Director of SSSDO, Mrs Nkechi Igwe explained that its main objective was to improve learning outcome of pupils in Enugu.
Igwe said that the organisation also equipped primary school teachers with modern techniques of teaching as well as strengthening the School-based Management structure for a period of one year.
The executive director said that the training would cut across the three senatorial districts of Enugu State beginning with Enugu East.
She also added that her organisation intended to train 90 teachers from the three senatorial zones of Enugu East, Enugu North and Enugu West.
The executive director commended the commissioner for Education and the ENSUBEB for their support to the successful implementation of the project.
Some of the participants who spoke the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) including Mrs Margaret Onyia and Mr Joseph Ugwu expressed delight for such a training. They both said that the training was timely as it had been long since teachers had undergone any form of training in five years. (NAN)
AED/MNA
Edited by Maureen Atuonwu