The Chairman of the Delta State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Hon Samuel Mariere, has restated the government’s commitment to improved standards in public primary schools in the state.
Speaking at a strategic meeting with public primary education stakeholders in Oshimili South Local Government Area, Hon Mariere said Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s MORE Agenda in the education sector must be implemented to the latter.
Saying that the reform is to restore the glorious days of public educational institutions in the state, the SUBEB boss decried the low interest of parents in registering their children and wards in public schools.
Accompanied by the first, second and third members of the board, Hon Mariere said the government would not play politics with education as it remains the bedrock of any society that wants to prosper.
Addressing stakeholders under the Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) in Oshimili South, the SUBEB Chairman expressed disappointment that the State was ranked number 10 with a low enrollment of pupils in public primary schools in Nigeria.
Mariere said such a rating in the national statistics was unacceptable and expressed optimism that the administration of Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori would enhance performance that would change the narrative.
He charged Head Teachers, community leaders, members of the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC), and traditional rulers to join forces with the board in marketing the many benefits of public primary schools.
Mariere said a massive campaign to increase enrollment in public primary schools in the next academic session in September is presently ongoing and requires the support of all.
He explained that the state government‘s approval and readiness to provide N1.5m copies of exercise books to be distributed free to pupils in public primary schools is to encourage parents to send their wards to public schools.
Mariere disclosed that in the 2024 SUBEB budget, a good amount was provided for school furniture, even as he appealed to Head Teachers to shun extortion from pupils, warning that anyone caught in the act would be dismissed from service.
Responding to a report from the Education Secretary in Oshimili South, Mrs Apollonia Oputa-Otutu, that a block of three classrooms at Amakom Primary School One in Oko Amakom, is on the verge of collapse, the SUBEB chairman ordered that the building be avoided to avert disaster.
He said the board would send engineers to inspect the building and come up with recommendations.
On the issue of land encroachment at Oneh Primary School Two and Okwe Primary School, Okwe, both in Oshimili South, Hon Mariere promised to look into it to resolve the matter.
The SUBEB Chairman and his team had earlier paid a visit to the Oshimili South Local Government Council, where he urged the authorities to be actively involved in the renewed approach by the Oborevwori administration to revamp the public primary schools in the state.
The Vice Chairman of Oshimili South, Mrs Chinwe Obo-Uso, assured SUBEB of collaboration to fund education development in the locality.
At the Palace of the Asagba of Asaba, the Regent, Chief Lewis Edozien, said good education has been a tradition to the people of Asaba and dates back to the pre-colonial era, adding that the kingdom would support government reforms in the sector.
Mariere commended all for their commitment to repositioning the public primary school education in the state.
