Rotary wants Rivers govt to revamp, equip public secondary schools
Omiete Blessing
The Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Gateway has charged the Rivers State Government to revamp and and equip public secondary schools in the State, for the betterment of pupils in the state.
Chairman, Planning Committee of the 2024 Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Gateway’s Essay Competition for Secondary School, Mr Ben Emeruwa, made the call at the grand finale of the competition held at Community Secondary School, Okoro-nu-odo, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
He lamented that most public secondary schools do not have adequate facility for learning.
The essay competition which began with 42 public secondary schools ended with eight schools in the grand finale, as Community Secondary School, Ozuoba clinched the first position, Airforce Secondary School emerged second, while Government Girls Secondary School, Rumuokwuta came third.
Other schools who participated in the grand finale include Community Secondary School, Choba; Government Girls Secondary School, Orominike; Holy Rosary Girls Secondary School, Port Harcourt; Community Secondary School, Eliozu and Community Secondary School, Okoro-nu-odo.
According to Emeruwa: “The winner of the 2024 edition of the competition is from CSS Ozuoba and this school doesn’t have a decent building for learning. Most of these schools have no science laboratory, they don’t even have adequate teachers, so I’ll like to beseech the Rivers State Government to prevail on the Commissioner of Education to look into the needs of public schools in the state, for the betterment of our pupils in Rivers State.”
In his remarks, President, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Gateway, Mr Prince Ekpere, tasked secondary school pupils in the on reading and researching about topical issues in the society, in order to broaden their knowledge to make better career and life choices in adulthood.
Ekpere said the competition was imperative to serve as incentive in ensuring that pupils read widely and broadly in order to understand the issues in the society.
“The competition was conceived last year when we had the maiden edition, we have other competitions such as spelling bees, mathematics competition, and then we did a survey among secondary school students to see if they understand topical issues, and we discovered that most students do not have a background knowledge of topical issues in the society.
“So we decided to give them a kind of incentive through this competition to make them read, study and research about topical issues and also to encourage teachers and schools.
“So the essay competition is way of getting students to go back to reading and follow up on current issues in the country, the state and in their communities and also use the knowledge to solve problems in the society.
“It has become an annual event and I think other organisations and well meaning individuals and groups should encourage students in schools by holding this kind of competition, because it will bring out the best in pupils and give them the avenue to think broadly on how to become responsible adults in the society, it will also help them in career choice in the future and help them make the society better.”
Speaking on behalf of the participating students, the Winner of the 2024 Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Gateway Essay Competition, Miss Salem Richard Nkanta, a 16-year old SS2 student of Community Secondary School, Ozuoba, lauded the club for organizing the event.
“I feel so good that I have made my school proud. I’ll advised my fellow students to keep writing, as for me I love writing but my dad said I must be a doctor. So I want to be a paediatric ophthalmologist in the future.”
