The Rivers State House of Assembly has commended the management of Port Harcourt  Polytechnic, Rumuola for its commitment and efforts in sustaining the state government’s dreams of establishing the institution.
The Majority  Leader of the House, Hon Martins Amaewhule  made this commendation in an interview with journalists at the end of an oversight visit to the institution by  members of the State House of Assembly Committee on Education recently in Port Harcourt.
Amaewhule averred that the committee was encouraged with the various workshops visited in the institution, adding that the management has shown enough capacity to manage the institution to attain the present heights and successes recorded despite the challenges of funds.
He assured that members of the state legislature would assist the school become one of the foremost Polytechnics in the country.
He opined that their visit to the institution would bring the desired attentions needed to enable the polytechnic meet up with its infrastructural needs.
The lawmaker expressed satisfaction with the level of developments in the school and assured that more attention would be given  in order to make it meet up with the demand of students influx into the school.

An Associate Professor at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE). Rumuolumeni,  Rivers State ,Isaac Ogundu has called on the State Government to urgently declare a state of emergency on technical and vocational education as a recipe for curbing crimes in the state.
Ogundu also canvassed for an establishment of vocational education board  in the state as well as establishing vocational colleges in the 23 local government areas of the state
The associate professor who, is also the Acting Head of Technical Education at IAUOE made this call in an interview with journalists at the just concluded 4th edition of the  annual conference organised by Faculty of Technical Education  of  the university with the theme “Promoting Innovation and Research Through Vocational Skills Acquisition for Sustainable Development” held at the Post Graduate Hall recently.
According to him the increasing spate of crisis and social unrest going on in the state and other parts of the country gave rise to the theme of this year’s conference.
He stated that there was an urgent need for education policy makers to institutionalise the teaching of skills in the nation’s education curriculum  in order to catch the youth and engage them with skills that would make them contribute to the economy of the state.
“There should be constitution of vocational education board in the state and each local government should have vocational education where people’s skills will be developed and they acquire new ones,”he added.
Earlier, the  vice chancellor of the university, Prof Ozo _Mercury Ndimele while declaring the conference open said the vision of the present management of the institution was to ensure that every student acquire a skill that will make them self dependent and employer of labour at the completion of their course of study at the university.
Represented by  Dr Stephen Kalagbor, the Head of St John’s Campus, the vice chancellor said the university was doing well in areas of research .
He urged participants at the one day conference to maximise the opportunity provided by the conference to help the society in solving the problem of social disorder that is  ravaging the nation at the moment through development of various skills that will make people to become self reliant.  .
Our correspondent who attended the conference reports that participants were drawn from both academic and non academic.

The Seventh Day Adventist Students Fellowship’s at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Port Harcourt has unveiled 16 directional signposts erected in the institution to add value to the campus.
The students said the erection of the signposts in the university was part of its public campus ministry observed worldwide by the church and to impact positively in the society.
Speaking shortly after the unveiling of the directional signposts at the university, recently, President, Port Harcourt Conference of Seventh Day Adventist Church, Pastor Anyalebechi Nnunu-kwe said the project was part of the fellowship community service to the university.
The clergy said the aim of the project was to assist to improve the welfare, environment and the sanitation of the campus.
The pastor said the erection of the signposts was part of its contributions towards the growth of the varsity and its environs.
He noted that the project was singlehandedly embarked on by the Seventh Day Adventist Students Fellowship on campus.
Nnunukwe, who described the project as wonderful, said, it cost the students some huge amount of naira to execute.
He charged Adventist students on campus to be disciplined and shun acts capable of tarnishing the image of the church and the society.
The clergy, who decried lack of worship centre on campus and writing of examinations on Saturdays by Adventist students as its challenges, appealed to the management of the school to provide a worship place on campus and have rethink on sitting for exams on Saturdays as it’s against their belief system.
Earlier, Chapter President, Seventh Day Adventist Student Fellowship, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Mr Eleberi Joseph said the students erected the signposts as a way of contributing to the society.
Joseph, a final year student in the Department of Chemistry, said the students’ fellowship was motivated to embark on the project due to its lack on campus.
The chapter President said the 16 directional signposts would guide movement of persons on campus and also add contour to the varsity.

Chinedu Wosu