Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure the safety of basic education schools in the state.
The Executive Chairman of the Board, Dr. Gabriel Ajah, gave the assurance in Enugu while declaring open, a two-day focal group discussion on the review of 2021-2023 Safe School Declaration plan of Action (POA) and development of 2024-2027 Action Plan in Enugu, stressing safe school environments as a key factor in providing conducive teaching and learning.
The Chairman, expressed satisfaction over the calibre and cream of the resource persons and participants at the workshop, and therefore charged them to come up with strategies on how to further strengthen the safety of children, teachers, and the school environment to realise the lofty plans and programmes of the Dr. Peter Mbah Administration, which he said had given education the highest budgetary allocation of 33 per cent across the nation.
“As you may already be aware, the current administration in Enugu State is taking education very seriously because our governor believes that education is the most potent weapon to fight poverty.
“The sector got 33 per cent of the total budget this year, the highest in Nigeria. But importantly, the administration is prioritising basic education where we are building 260 smart schools, one in each of the 260 political wards. By this we are leapfrogging the transformation of basic education. The smart schools were also conceived with safety and total development of our learners in mind.
“So, we want you to strengthen this initiative by the outcome of your review of the 2021-2023 Safe School Declaration Plan of Action (POA) and your inputs into the development of the 2024-2027 Action Plan,” Dr. Ajah stated.
He emphasised that Governor Mbah was committed to not only securing the schools, but also lives and properties of citizens.
Also speaking, the Minister of Education Prof. Tahir Mamman, who was represented by Dr. Giginria Lydra, called on states to domesticate the policy on Safe School Declaration and for the full implementation of the Child Right Action in the State.
On his part, the Commissioner for Education in Enugu State, Prof. Ndubueze Mba, in a keynote address, disclosed that Enugu would soon be a digital literate state with the adoption of the smart schools and smart teachers to enhance quality of teaching and learning, using advance technology.
Prof. Mba, who was represented by Mr. Chris Edenwatu, said that Enugu state government had invested so much in the education sector to make school environment very safe and conducive for teachers and students.
The Executive Chairman of the Enugu State Post Primary Schools Management Board, PPSMB, Rev. Fr. Hilary Mgbodile described the workshop as timely and a welcomed development that would help address most of the challenges associated with safety of students and pupils in schools.
Meanwhile, the workshop featured, among others, interactive sessions between the participants and pupils and students from selected schools with a view to identifying their challenges and how best to address them.
Recommendations by the learners include posting of male National Youth Service Corps members to male school and their female counterparts to female schools, employment of security operatives in the schools, and construction of perimetre fence around the school premises to improve on physical security.
They equally recommended more motivation for members of School Based Management Committee SBMC in the running of schools.
