By Ijendu Iheaka
Umuahia, Sept. 2, 2024
Abia Government has announced the posting of security personnel to schools in the state to safeguard the lives of students and staff and property.
The state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Okey Kanu disclosed this during the weekly briefing on Executive Council meeting outcomes at the Government House, Umuahia.
Kanu also announced the resumption of schools in the state which will be effective from September 16, 2024.
“Schools in Abia will resume on September 16, 2024 and to that effect, Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) has put in place mechanisms for the reopening.
“In line with this, ASUBEB’s Abia First Education Reform Programme is poised to train 2000 Master Trainers. 200 have been trained, remaining 1,800.
“This is part of the wider agenda to reform Abia’s education system.
“The promise of the state government to post security personnel to schools has been fulfilled to secure the lives of students and teachers and property in the schools.
“ASUBEB has also earmarked 5,746 staff for promotion to motivate the teachers to contribute to the uplifting of our education system,” Kanu said.
He said that ASUBEB had screened and interviewed 200 teachers under the Abia State Schools Enhancement Team Programme for resumption.
He further said that 40 teachers out of 200 had been shortlisted for special training preparatory to the reopening of schools later in the month.
On the health sector, he said that “the newly upgraded Eye Clinic at the Annex of the Specialist Hospital Amachara will be commissioned Tuesday, September 3, 2024.
“It will be opened for eye care of Abia residents and this eye center is another pointer to the huge premium Otti’s govt places on provision of affordable eye care to Abia residents,” he said.
Kanu also noted that the government had constituted a panel of experts to midwife the upgrade of the Abia School of Nursing at Amachara to a College of Nursing Sciences.
He said that the move was expected to enhance the qualification and production of top grade Nurses in the state.
He noted that the online upload of civil servants’ credentials had progressed very well and had been very successful in the state.
“To date, 14, 262 civil servants have signed on to the platform with 51, 770 academic certificates uploaded while 35, 474 Service records have been uploaded also”, he said.
The Executive Chairman, ASUBEB, Mrs. Lydia Onuoha, while offering explanations, said that training for the 2000 Master Trainers was in phases.
She said that the first phase of 200 personnel had been completed while the remaining 1,800 would take their turn next.
Onuoha said that the training, which holds at five centres chosen for proximity to participants had many classrooms being used for it.
She also said that the participants were selected from the 17 local government areas of the state.
The Special Adviser to Gov. Alex Otti on Education, Mr. Kenechukwu Nwosu said that the government had deployed security personnel to some schools in Umuahia.
Nwosu said that the state was using the services of Abia State Vigilante Services (AVS) to protect the students, teachers and school property.
He said that the government would extend the posting of security personnel to schools in Aba and other areas of the state.
He added that the state government would soon fence the schools to protect their property and life of teachers and students
