Rivers Commissioner To Chair South/South Education Summit, March

The Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, has been appointed to chair the South-South Education Summit to hold in Port Harcourt in March.

The Education Summit is the brain child of the South-South Governors’ Forum.

The six states in the geo-political zone, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta named BRACED commission, will come together during out a blue print that will be a working document for the education sector in the zone.

Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi has called for measures to revive the falling standard of education in the country while declaring open the BRACED commission’s meeting in Port Harcourt.

She stated that all stakeholders should pay serious attention to review the sector with the aim of securing the future of our tomorrow’s leaders.

The Education Commissioner said that they have the mandate of their various Governors to champion the cause stating that during the summit, the states would adopt a model that would be used in the BRACED states.

As part of their  mandate, she announced that the BRACED commission and the States Ministries of Education would carry out a comprehensive survey of education in the BRACED states to assess the state of education in the region, and advise how the various educational initiatives of the Governors can be sustained and identify the educational needs of the South-South states as it prepares for global competitiveness.

She maintained that the BRACED Commission is to work out with the states an effective mechanism for the re-certification of teachers as part of efforts to encourage the continuous training of teachers thus improving the quality of teaching profession in the region.

The Education boss insisted that payment of discriminatory school fees by South-South students in tertiary institutions in the BRACED states would be abolished.

Accordingly, she noted South-South students attending tertiary institutions in the BRACED states are to pay the same school fees.

She said that the commission would institutionalised and encourage sports competition among the schools in the zone as well as set up education working group which would standardised education in terms of access and quality.

Speaking earlier in an opening remark, the Director-General of the commission, Ambassador Joe Keshi, said the meeting was informed by the decision of the South-South governors on how to revive and strengthen education in the region.

His words: “And I think the governors and their commissioners for education do realise this and thus committed themselves to meet and collectively decide on how to try in reviving education in the South-South region.

Ambassador Keshi pointed out that the commission’s role and responsibility was to begin the preparatory work on the summit them to the committee before it goes to the governors for approval.”