DELTA State Government has charged participants of the critique workshop on the draft National Policy On Senior Secondary Education to work assidously to deliver an effective policy that would produce the desired outcome for that level of education.
The Governor of Delta State, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, gave the charge when he declared open the workshop organised by the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) In collaboration with the state government in Asaba.
The governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Patrick Ukah, stated that the senior secondary education is the most significant stage in the educational strata and it is the level where students prepare for higher education, choose their preferred careers and build their lives on such careers.
Senator Okowa noted that the senior secondary education is a three year programme with a comprehensive and diversified curriculum which present policy is to make secondary education available, accessible and affordable to all young Nigerians.
He said the workshop is a veritable platform for key stakeholders to carryout an In-depth critique on the national policy.
The governor therefore enjoined participants of the workshop to work on the draft document with all the seriousness it deserves. Even as he expressed confidence that their contributions will produce a smart policy and it’s implementation guidelines.
Earlier, Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs. Rose Ezewu, explained that Okowa administration was poised to entrench a legacy of free and compulsory basic and secondary education in order to reduce the proportion of out of school children from 3,100 to zero level.
Mrs. Ezewu said the Ministries of Basic and Secondary Education as well as Technical Education were committed to supporting policies and programmes of the state government towards achieving the goals of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC).
She commended the state government for its unprecedented development in the education sector through the establishment of new schools, construction and renovation of physical infrastructure in existing schools with about 5,153 classrooms and recruitment of teachers.
The Commissioner, Ministry of Teachnical Education, Hon. Shola Ogbemi-Daibo, in her remarks, also commended Senator Okowa for the development of technical education in the state by ensuring the establishment of technical schools in all the 25 local government areas of the state.
In his remarks, the Secretary, National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), Professor Benjamin Abakpa, lauded Senator Okowa for his continuous commitment to the development of education in the state and urged the participants to take the workshop seriously in order to achieve desired results.
Participants for the workshop were drawn from key stakeholders in the education sector from the southern states of the country, Delta State top government officials from the ministries of Basic and Secondary Education and that of Technical Education, the Post Primary Education Board and other selected renowned educationists.
