KWALE/Nigeria: The State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has reiterated its commitment to improving the public primary education system in Delta State. The Executive Chairman of SUBEB, Hon. Samuel Mariere, made this promise during a strategic meeting with primary school education stakeholders in Ndokwa East and Ndokwa West local government areas. This meeting aligns with the state government’s ongoing drive to elevate educational standards in primary schools.
Addressing the stakeholders, including headteachers, education secretaries, traditional rulers, opinion leaders, members of the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC), vigilante groups, and youth leaders, Mariere emphasized the importance of supporting Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s reform agenda in the education sector.
Accompanied by board members Mr. Chukwuemeka Uwadia (Delta North), Onome Akporere (Delta Central), and Mrs. Josephine Ejheren (Delta South), Hon. Mariere urged local government council chairmen to adhere to the provisions of UBEC laws concerning the funding of primary education. He stressed that both federal and state governments are dedicated to building a robust primary education system and called on the councils to embrace the new strategies aimed at reviving the quality of public primary schools in Delta State.
Mariere announced that Governor Oborevwori has approved the distribution of exercise notebooks to pupils in public primary schools across the state at the start of the new academic session in September. He assured stakeholders that the state government would continue to fulfill its responsibilities, particularly in infrastructure development and salary payments, while also appealing to well-meaning individuals to support these efforts as the government cannot achieve this alone.
Highlighting recent developments, Mariere, a former two-term member of the State Legislature and ex-Commissioner for Water Resources Development, revealed that over three thousand teaching and non-teaching staff were recently employed by the state government to bolster manpower in public primary schools. He added that capacity building remains a top priority for the current board and would continue to receive attention.
Hon. Mariere urged stakeholders, especially parents, to collaborate with headteachers to ensure the best education for children in public primary schools. He also called for community efforts to provide security and protect school infrastructure from vandalism.
Representatives of the chairmen of Ndokwa East and Ndokwa West local governments, Mr. Nelson Enuekwe and Mrs. Esther Okonkwo, respectively, pledged their councils’ commitment to partnering with the state government to enhance public primary education.
During a visit to the palace of the Oduosa of Utagba-Ogbe Kingdom, the traditional institution expressed its readiness to cooperate with the government to reposition schools in the locality.
