From Gabriel Efo, Uyo
As the Akwa Ibom State government sets out to restructure its education sector, a former governor of the state, Obong Victor Attah, has urged Governor Udom Emmanuel to hand over missionary schools in the state to missionaries.
The former governor who made the suggestion while delivering a goodwill message during the state’s first two-day education summit and exhibitions in Uyo on Friday, explained that the move would make room for moral instructions and religious values to be inculcated into the curriculum of studies as it was in the past.
“When I was governor, we started the process of handing back schools to the missions and I know it was wrong in the first instance to have taken those schools. I want to recommend; if that process has not been completed, please, Your Excellency, continue that process and hand back those schools.
“The missionaries taught us moral rearmaments and armed us with the things that have made us what we are today. I think the process of handing back those schools with adequate compensation should be encouraged and continued,” he stated.
READ ALSO: Why Okorocha didn’t leave handover report – Ihedioha
Attah commended the governor for his vision in organising the summit, which started on Thursday, September 5, through Friday, September 6, to chart a roadmap for education.
Governor Emmanuel, who spoke at the event, said he had started providing computer systems for at least one school in each local government area of the state for the students in order to keep up with the demand of modern day educational structure.
Emmanuel also said that he was partnering key stakeholders to ensure that joblessness and unemployment faced by many graduates are curbed.
A participant at the summit, Mrs. Emem Philip, who spoke to our correspondent, described the proposal for the introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into the state’s educational system as a welcomed idea.
Mrs. Philip, who is a teacher in one of the public schools in the state, decried the technological backwardness amongst teachers, urging them to embrace the new development.
Another participant, Mr. John Umoh, expressed optimism that if the recommendations at the summit were implemented, it would completely change the face of education in the state.
The summit which featured lectures delivered by erudite members of the academia as well as exhibitions, was tagged “Human Capacity Development For Sustainable Transformation of Persons and Society.”