The Rivers State House of Assembly Committee on Education, says it is passionate about the education of the state and has agreed to intervene seriously.

The Chairman, Hon Augustine Ngo made the remarks at a one-day public hearing on Rivers State Education Bill, 2013, organised for stakeholders and indeed the general public in Port Harcourt last Wednesday.

Hon Ngo noted that there had been a lot of decay in both private and public schools, adding that the committee was re-engineering the education process.

The lawmaker insisted that the aim of the public hearing was to have a holistic approach to education, explaining that the laws that were already existing were handed down from the Eastern part of Nigeria laws, practised by previous governments which have been adopted by laws of Rivers State.

He described Ambassador Nne Kurubo’s Model Secondary School, Eleme, as the best, with the existence of a smart class where students are taught with the right instructional materials and conducive environment.

The House committee on education chairman, maintained that the laws have been there for long hence there is need for review.

He was optimistic that at the end of the day, a lot would have been achieved and education would be taken to high levels and Rivers State would become number one.

Also speaking, the Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, said the bill was important not just to the ministry of education as a body  but as human beings.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Richard Ofuru, the commissioner said the greatest thing the ministry owes human being is capacity building.

According to her, once you get it right, in the area of human capacity building, then we get it right in the society.

She expressed optimism that if it is taken seriously, then a lot of benefits would be derived from it.

In his own contribution, the Executive Secretary, Readers Project, Dr Tony Enyia, advocated that children should be taught with vernacular at the primary school level.

Dr Enyia explained that when children are taught with indigenous language, they tend to perform well in mathematics.

The coordinator, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, (TRCN) Rivers State Chapter, Mr Elechi stated that TRCN ensures that registered teachers teach in schools.

He revealed that 80 to 90 per cent of teachers in public schools are qualified, because according to him, government is sure of teachers it is employing into the system.

He lamented that 50 per cent of the teachers in the private schools are not qualified to teach, calling on government to assist TRCN to ensure that qualified teachers are employed into the private schools in the state.

He explained that TRCN has a registrar at the national level who ensures that all teachers in primary and secondary schools are registered and licensed while a coordinator is in charge at the state level.

Eunice Choko-Kayode