Quality Assurance Agency Bill Suffer’s Setback

A bill seeking to establish the Rivers State Quality Assurance Agency has suffered another setback at the floor of the Statehouse of Assembly.

The bill which was the only item on the order paper for the lawmaker  deliberation on Monday’s plenary  session, could not sail through  when majority of the members adduced several reasons to terminate adduced the centinuation of the bill.

Speaker of the Assembly, Rt Hon. Otelemaba Amachree, ruled that since the leader who presented the executive bill has tractically requested for its  withdrawal and majority are opposed to it, the leader should be allowed to repackaged the bill for fresh presentation.

Hon Amachree opined that since members have agreed that the bill needs “surgical operation”  the House leader should therefore liaise with the executive arm to fineturn the bill before its re-entry into the chamber.

Contributing to the debate, Hon. Chidi Lloyd and leader of  the House, urged the lawmakers to take a deep breath to study the bill carefully, stressing that similar provisions in the bill are  contained in the education law already passed and assented  to.

Hon. Lloyed noted that the ministry of Education needs to explain the intentment of the bill  to enable the law itself pass quality assurance rather than to do the ritual of passing through the process.

Hon Fredrick Anabaraba representing Akuku Toru constituency II, said the bill as drafted does not contain any quality provision rather contains  duplication, pointing out  that the bill should not fix  school fees and salary of private school staff for the proprietors.

The lawmaker representing Etche constituency II, Hon. Golden Chioma, argued that the bill negates the principle of free enterprise, noting that  the Assembly does not have the powers  to fix salaries and school fees.

He remarked that the bill needs “surgical operation” to enable it conform  with democratic norms,  while Hon. Godstime Horsfall, Asari-Toru  constituency  II, said the bill needs  repackaging because there are ambiguities which do not have anything to add to the education laid.

On his part, Hon Martin Amaewuale Obio/Akpor constituency I,submitted that there is need to give the bill a chance after purging it of existing contradictions to avoid arbitrariness.

The Deputy leader Hon. Nname Ewor, noted that modern trend in education shows a shift from western to modern education, stressing that quality assurance law will  cure the existing lapses.

He posited that the perfect arm of the bill is to create an Agency that would produce the child that will face the challenges of today squarely.

It would be recalled that the  bill suffered similar fate during the first session of the seventh Assembly, when it died at the committee report stage.