FG Votes N435m For Displaced Students …Plans National Education Summit

The Federal Government yesterday approved the sum of N435m for the sponsorship of 2,400 students in the three states mostly affected by terrorists activities.
The funding to be provided under the safe school initiative would be used for the education of students from Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states.
The approval was announced by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, shortly after a meeting with members of the Steering Committee of the Safe Schools Initiative.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the private sector, members of donor Community from Germany, Deparyment for International Development, United Nations, and UNICEF. Others are representatives from the troubled states of, Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, and key federal agencies and ministries.
The project is an initiative of former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Publisher of Thisday Newspapers, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena and business mogul Aliko Dangote.
The meeting, held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in Abuja, was targeted at defining and fine-tuning more strategies and programmes to achieve the objectives of the scheme.
Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, the minister said that all is now set for the implementation of the safe school program, which according to her would be launched by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has announced plans to hold a national summit on teachers as part of efforts to improve the teaching profession.
The Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, made the disclosure at Abeokuta in Ogun, at the opening of the 60th National Council on Education (NCE) meeting, yesterday.
Shekarau said President Goodluck Jonathan would preside over the summit which shall address challenges of the teaching profession by proffering solutions to them.
“I am pleased to let you know that in the next few weeks, I will be inviting stakeholders to a National Summit on Teachers and with His Excellency, Mr President presiding. The summit will look at ways of addressing the challenges of unavailability of quality teachers in Nigeria. It will involve exploring issues relating to training of teachers, recruitment, incentives and career paths,” he said.
The minister stressed the need for institutionalisation of incentives that would help in attracting and re-training the best brains in the teaching profession.
Shekarau explained that the summit had become necessary, due to the continued poor performance of students in core science subjects as well as Mathematics and English language.
He expressed optimism that the summit would take necessary steps to restore the lost glory of the teaching profession in the country.
”We must begin to do things to attract those teachers that can give the best to students. We must put measures in place to ensure that the teaching profession is once again the destination for the best.  It is in having the best teachers that Nigeria is assured of the best products.
The gathering will also prove our commitment to restoring the glory of the education sector through commitment to competence,’’ he said.
The minister also launched a compilation of decisions of the NCE in the past 13 years, which was distributed to all states commissioners for education.
He noted that the document would serve as a reference material for stakeholders on the implementation of education policies in Nigeria.
Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, in his address, stressed the importance of education in the rebuilding agenda of his administration.
The governor said, “affordable qualitative education is not just a focal point in our five cardinal programme but in fact, the first. Our belief is that a people who are well educated will not only be easy to govern but will also be able to conceive personal and communal development ideas.
In our first year in office, we expended over N2 billion in the provision of all required textbooks, educational materials for 511,083 pupils in our primary schools and 377,373 students in our public secondary schools. Our sectoral allocation to education is the highest in the yearly budgetary provision which is in consonant with UNESCO standard,” Amosun said.

Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Rivers State chapter, Mr Anifowose Abayomi (middle), exchanging pleasantries with Engr Ishaaq Yahaya, who represented Engr Emeka Eze at the NIQS 2014 Week at the Arena Event Centre, Port Harcourt, yesterday. With them is the Vice Chairman of the body, Mr Edighoman Isaac Ewa. Photo: Egberi Sampson