by crossriverwatch admin
There is no law that prescribes which school anybody should place his children or wards but it’s a matter of personal choice whether to send them to public or private schools says Professor Offiong E. Offiong, the Cross River State Education Commissioner.
Professor Offiong who made the declaration on Tuesday in Calabar while answering a question during a press briefing said it is in exercise of his personal choice that he sent his children to private schools and not public schools where he superintends.
“It is not because I am Commissioner of Education that I should withdraw my children from private schools and place them in public schools and when I leave office return them to private schools which does not make meaning to me”. Offiong
He said though the public schools have more qualified teachers, teachers in private schools are more dedicated and committed in their teaching which makes the private schools more attractive to parents and guardians which is the reason they place their children in those schools.
Professor Offiong said the state government has driven its comprehensive renovation of sixty secondary schools in the state to ninety five percent completion stage and the renovation of additional forty two schools is being pursued as the due process for the award of contract for the renovation work is in progress.
“The impact of this has been tremendous as it has created a conducive teaching and learning environment “. Offiong stated.
He said fifty one of the renovated schools have equipped physics, chemistry and biology laboratories while sixty have been fitted with I C T laboratories as part of upgrading the standard of education in the state. “Our strategy to introduce computer education and technology enabled education delivery in schools”.
The Commissioner stated that most secondary schools in urban centers of the state are overcrowded and for that reason the state government is building more schools to accommodate the bloating number of children in the schools.
“We have overcrowding in most schools in urban centers in the state so we are building more schools to accommodate the influx of pupils”.
To make up for the lost time following the two months strike by teachers which lasted from September to early November, the Commissioner said schools would not vacate in the state till the 23rd of December to enable them cover the academic syllabus for the first term session.
“We paid the teachers the TSS within the ability of what the state can afford and also signed an Agreement with the teachers to pay them the remainder later and hopefully we will not breach the agreement”.
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