The Imo State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Ben Uwajumogu, has said that the free education policy of Governor Rochas Okorocha will turn the state into Nigeria’s brain box. In an exclusive chat with Education Review, the Speaker noted that the free education policy was one of the best things ever to have happened to Imo people.
“I can tell you that the free education policy of Governor Okorocha is one of the best things the people of Imo State have experienced since the state was created in 1976. It is like giving a blind man fresh set of eyes. It is like removing a heavy yoke from the people’s head. In fact, it is a burden well taken care of. This is so because education is an industry in Imo State.
By making education compulsory and free, Okorocha is simply investing into the future through capacity building. If I read him well, he wants to make Imo State the brain box of Nigeria”, Uwajumogu enthused. He revealed that by issuing cheques of 100,000 naira each to undergraduates of Imo State University who are indigenes as well as students of Imo State Polytechnic.
Umuagwo who received 80,000 naira each and the students of College of Health Science and Technology Amaigbo, who got 60,000 naira each, Okorocha was playing America’s Franklyn Benjamin in another form.
According to him; “Benjamin was an American nationalist and founding father. When he was dying, he willed his $200million to school kids in Boston through a Foundation Trust. You see, the free education given to over 19,000 students of Imo State origin is beyond politics. It is empowerment. It is a well-tailored vision aimed at making Imo the most education friendly state in Nigeria.
For a governor to forfeit his N4billion annual security vote for the education of the youth in his state is not a mean feat. It shows that Okorocha is not a ruler but a leader with vision and compassion”.
HOW THE POLICY WORKS
The Speaker gave graphic details of how the free education policy is working. He said; “There is an education revolution going on in Imo State. The government is building 12 classroom blocks in each of the 305 wards in the state and as I am talking with you, about 250 of them are ready.
The administration of Governor Okorocha which I am very proud to be a member, has built the Young Scientist’s College; the Owerri City School; and the College of Advanced Professional Studies (ICAPS).
We have increased the subvention given to Imo State University from 57 million naira to 152 million naira just as we have released 450 million naira grant to the missionary schools in the state. To make things easier for parents and guardians, the state government is also providing school desks, uniforms, sandals, books for all Imo pupils.
In the same manner, allocation of imprest is made to the authorities of all primary and secondary schools in the state for the purpose of carrying out routine maintenance in their respective schools. We are all happy because all these components are in full implementation. Close to two hundred of the 305 model schools have either been completed or at advanced stages of completion.
As a symbolic affirmation of the free education policy in Imo, secondary school students and primary school pupils are being paid a symbolic allowance of N100!”
GOVT’S SINCERITY
To demonstrate the fact that the state government is very sincere about the success of the free education policy, Uwajumogu said that the Okorocha administration had ensured that the academic calendar of all the institutions is kept running without any interruption.
“For a very long time now, I do not think that any government in Imo State has achieved a two -year stability in the academic calendar as we have been doing since the past two years.
You can go and find out. Since we came on board, schools in Imo State have not embarked on strike for whatever reason. Again, we have solved all the pending issues that were disturbing Imo State University and other government owned higher institutions.
For instance, we have worked assiduously and got accreditation for certain courses that were not recognised by National Universities Commission (NUC) and that is a big plus. We have equally ensured that the Imo State University Teaching Hospital is back to life.
MORE SCHOOLS
“Let us be very frank and pragmatic about this. In the last 35 years, I do not know how many primary schools that have been constructed in Imo State.
But right now, you can see them in hundreds coming up from even unexpected quarters. Parents and guardians now go to school without paying any kobo, rather, they reinvest the money they would have used to do other businesses and solve other problems.
To tell you that this government is quite unique in our education revolution, we came out with a programme known as ‘Youth Must Work’. It is patterned after the NYSC scheme.
All we want to achieve is to try to engage the youth by keeping them busy and occupied. We send them to companies and after retraining and giving them refresher courses, we then plead with the companies to employ them and about 1,000 graduates have got employment via this process.
These are the things we are doing and I think in the nearest future, Imo State entrepreneurs will take over Nigeria,” the Speaker said.
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