The Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has identified shirking of responsibility by government, teachers and communities as the cause of dwindling fortunes in education in the country.
Governor Diri stated this at Toru-Orua on Tuesday while flagging off the 5th Batch of primary school teachers training programme organized by the State Teacher Training, Registration and Certification Board (TTRCB).
The Governor, who was represented at the ceremony by his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, noted that achieving quality sustainable education is becoming increasingly difficult as key stakeholders are not playing their roles well.
He came down hard on all tiers of government for paying lip service to measures that are capable of strengthening primary education,.
Governor Diri who also lambasted teachers, community leaders and other stakeholders for their nonchalant attitude towards education, stressed that the faulty
foundation being created at the primary school level was rubbing off negatively on the country
He, however, applauded the immediate past Restoration Government of Senator Seriake Dickson for laying the foundation for the present administration to build a better educational system in the state.
Underscoring the importance of training and re-training of teachers, he pointed out that no education system could rise above the quality of its teachers, and assured government’s commitment to funding the training program.
Senator Diri advised the teachers to be passionate, humble and determined in the discharge of their duties, bearing in mind that, to a large extent, quality education delivery rests on them.
His words, “No doubt, that our education system is wobbling and tottering because the primary school system has been eroded and destroyed, for three reasons.
“First, the incompetence of those managing it; the lack of government commitment towards education, and the unwillingness of the communities themselves to support the system. So there is a pile of blame to be apportioned to everybody.
“Government has paid too much lip-service to the primary education system. Commitment of government is more of rhetorics than of practicality; it is more of talk and less of work.
“I want to call on government at all levels across the country to take the issues of primary school more seriously than it is now.
“On their part, our communities have become docile and indifferent to what is happening in the primary schools. They feel what happens in the schools is not their business. It should be your business because the pupils to be trained in the schools are your children and wards.
“Our communities must take it as a duty that they need to respond to what happens in our primary schools. Communities should be able to recruit ad hoc teachers to support the school system.
“As teachers you are holding destinies and futures of a lot of people in your hand. You are managing from primary one to six. Those who are responsible always remember their primary school teachers but in these days we can’t remember our primary school teachers because they have conducted themselves in a way that we can’t remember them”.
Earlier in her opening remarks, the Executive Chairman of the Teacher Training, Registration and Certification Board, Dr. Stella Peremoboere Ugolo, expressed gratitude to the Governor for fully funding the teacher’s training programme.
Dr Ugolo, who also appreciated the Management of the University of Africa, Toru-Orua for making its facilities available for the training exercise, said the Board was committed to quality assurance in the delivery of education services in the state.
Signed
Mr Doubara Atasi
Senior Special Assistant on Media
Deputy Governor’s Office
Bayelsa State
22/02/2022
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