Amaechi’s Five Years Of Education Revolution

This is the concluding part of the article published last Wednesday

Governor Rotimi Amaechi was upbeat while signing into law these bills including that on social services levy passed by the Rivers State House of Assembly recently.

 Amaechi had every reason to be happy. He had campaigned for weeks, on the need to have the new law in place. For the governor, the new law sponsored by the executive arm is a vital step towards sustainable development in the health and education sectors of the state.

Essentially, the new law introduces a social service levy to be paid by all employed and self employed indigenes and residents of Rivers State. The funds accruable from this levy will be used for such purposes as: funding the state’s free education programme in primary and secondary schools; providing and improving on the medical facilities in government health centres and supporting other essential social services approved by the State Executive Council, amongst others.

On the imperative of the new social service levy, Amaechi cited his experience as a child to portray the importance of the new law. “We are a family of nearly ten and I happen to be the only one who had a university education and my father struggled to put me through university. We lived in a public compound of about 16 rooms with just one toilet and one bathroom. Most of my very good mates didn’t go to university because their parents could not afford it. Some barely struggled to pass through secondary education.

“Have we asked ourselves how many children are dropping out of schools? Have we found out why there is an increase in crime in the state? Have we found out why most of those who claim to be militants do not have more than primary three certificates? Have we tried to find out why a lot of people are unemployed? A lot of us go to university but are not employable because of the quality of education. This tally with the vision of Jean Piaget, a Swiss cognitive Psychologist on education, “The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done”.

Apart from the above, the Rivers State government says some designated schools with enough space, will be upgraded and made to admit students on compulsory boarding basis to complement the new 24 model secondary schools, as an interim arrangement, pending more construction of new schools in the State. The plan is aimed at improving the capacity of the State to cope with the new challenge of compulsory boarding in the state schools.

The Rivers State Government through its scholarship Board reconstituted by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency RSSDA created by law by the Amaechi administration each gives out yearly overseas and local scholarships to Rivers indigenes to study vital courses. The Scholarships include Doctorate, Post Graduate, Undergraduate, Diploma and Secondary education.

The wife of the Governor, Dame Judith Amaechi is not left behind in promoting and uplifting the standard of education in Rivers State. Through her pet project, ’Empowerment Support Initiative’ (ESI) has built about 20 permanent primary schools that offers free education. Nigeria’s first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan in recognition of these efforts of Dame Amaechi in assisting her husband in this regard lauded her for setting up the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI), and through it, provides tuition free and quality kindergarten education in the State. According to Mrs. Jonathan, “I want to say that we will contribute and support this NGO because it is an NGO for everybody and we will make it achieve its vision for the children because if you train up a child in the way he/she should go, he/she will not depart from it. According to Her Excellency Dame Judith Amaechi the first lady of Rivers State and wife of the Governor, “the ESI school is a transitional ground that prepares the children mentally and psychologically for the expectation and sustainability into model primary education even as we have built 20 permanent schools in several communities in the state; I urge all stakeholders to support the scheme. My education intervention programme was initiated to complement the State Government revolution in the education sector”.

Explaining why the Rivers State government is introducing the ICT in the model primary and secondary schools, the Amazon who heads the Education Ministry in the State, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi whose words are laws when it comes to issues of education in the State stated, “this is to enhance technological development of our students in the State, the world is a global village and the need to embrace technology at an early stage is essential in the intellectual development of the students. I am proud that Rivers State is the first State in Nigeria to introduce the study of ICT at the primary school level. All the schools in Rivers State  today is equipped with ICT facilities with internet connection as the State is eager to make all her pupils and students to be technologically ahead of their counterparts in other parts of the country.

“Very soon, candidates in Rivers State would be using ICT to write external examinations like the WAEC and NECO. Today, I am proud to state that technology has eased learning in our society as our students can do their assignments on the internet. Today, Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) is leading the way in technological drive in Nigerian universities and has shown Nigerians how easy ICT technology can be used to enhance learning and administration process in the academic environment. All these are to the credits of the great revolutionist of our time – Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi”.

This woman who belongs to the mainstream of the administration of Governor Amaechi stands out as one of the shining stars of this administration and her feats has earned her  a lot of accolades and awards including the famous Timenews 2012 Leadership Gold award amongst other outstanding awards both at the International and local level. According to the publisher of Timenews magazine, Mr. Bernard Adeokhor, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, “was chosen because of her ingenuity, hard-work and managerial excellence in providing quality education in Rivers State as her achievements have redefined the education sector which has placed the state on the world map with very strong entrepreneurial base and competent corporate leadership. Timenews 2012 leadership gold award is designed to reward and mirror to the world exceptional Nigerian professionals, top civil servants, innovative entrepreneurs, educationists and academics”.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Ministry of Education has won the maiden edition of Babs Fafunwa Education Prize for Service Delivery. The award is in recognition of the massive deployment of infrastructure, effective management of human resources and productive educational policies and programmes that have made a huge difference in the overall development of the education sector in the state and in the lives of target beneficiaries.

Not contented with all these feats, the Rivers State Government would make free education policy compulsory for all children of school age by 2013. According to Amaechi, “parents would be required by law to send their children and wards to both the State government new model primary and secondary schools and other government primary and secondary schools that would be renovated and made to meet required standards. We are about to send to the State Assembly a bill that says it is a crime not to send your children to schoo. The reason is when you say education is free and compulsory, parents don’t take it seriously until you say they will go to jail if they don’t send their children and wards to school. We would not collect fees so it becomes criminal if you don’t send your children to school. From next year we would criminalise those who don’t take their children or wards to school because we will try everything possible to ensure that we provide infrastructure and facilities that will back our free education”.

“Let me tell you the things that will happen very soon. Those of you who are in government schools that are not up to standard we are trying to raise our government schools to the standard that we require. When we get to that standard, we will in the next few months set up the agency for quality assurance. If you don’t meet the standard, whether you are government school or private school you will be closed down.”

Eze is a public affairs analyst based in PH.