In fulfillment of his promise during inauguration, Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has announced plans to resuscitate boarding in public schools in the state.
Wike announced the plan when he paid an unscheduled visit to Government Girls Secondary School, Rumuokwuta in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area on Wednesday.
The governor hinted that Rumuokwuta Girls Secondary School will serve as a pilot scheme when he said, “this will be one of the pilot schemes we will use to try the boarding system. We will come back and provide boarding houses and security houses. We will make sure everything is provided here”.
In addition to that, he promised to resuscitate the schools’ dilapidated library, music class and science labs.
The governor, after inspecting facilities in the school, decried the level of neglect and decay, saying, the past administration failed to meet its obligation to provide quality education for the people.
“This shows that in the past eight years, government did not think this school exists. There is no way in the eight years of an administration a school like this in the city cannot be renovated”, Wike lamented.
With the poor state of infrastructure and encroachment on the school’s property, he directed the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works, to fix the school’s broken fence and construct internal roads within the premises.
Following encroachment on the school land, the governor directed the authorities to remove all makeshift buildings while ordering owners of such properties to remove them within 48 hours or face demolition.
The governor later addressed the students, assuring them of government’s resolve to bring back academic excellence.
“As a government, we owe you a duty to provide quality education, and there is no compromise about it”, he stressed, and enjoined them to be obedient and studious.
It will be recalled that Governor Wike, during his inaugural address on May 29, promised to resuscitate the state’s school boarding system.