The Civil Liberties Organisation, Akwa Ibom State chapter has called on Governor Udom Emmanuel, to declare a state of emergency in the Education sector of the state.
The Chairman of CLO in the state, Franklyn Isong, said this in his office in Uyo, the state capital while briefing newsmen as part of activities to mark the World Teachers Day with the theme “Young Teachers: The Future of the Profession.”
He said the need became necessary to arrest gross infrastructural decay and insecurity in public schools in the state.
Isong faulted the content of the education submit organised by the state government recently, describing it as “urbanised” and not intended to capture the deep crisis rocking the sector in the state.
He said “It is worrisome and sad that most public schools in some communities in Akwa Ibom State are dilapidated, insecure and are left to the fate of the communities without government attention.
“All that is needed is for the Governor to take bold steps by declaring a state of emergency in the education sector in order to build more classrooms blocks in rural and urban schools, provide good infrastructure like science equipment, libraries, laboratories as well as review the education curriculum to guarantee a better and secured future for children in Akwa Ibom State.”
He expressed appreciation to the state government for domesticating the right to basic education of Akwa Ibom child in free and compulsory education and urged the state government to do the needful.
“The right to basic education to every Nigerian child, as enshrined in the Child Rights Act of 2003 in Article 15 (1), had been domesticated under the Child’s Rights Law of Akwa Ibom State, to ensure that every child in Akwa Ibom State has the right to compulsory, free and qualitative basic education.”
Isong added that; “In the Fundamental Objectives and Directives Principles of State Policy, as contained in Chapter 2, Section 13 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), government is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that education for Nigerian children is free and qualitative.”
He also urged the government to address the many complaints of backlog of unpaid pensions and gratuities to the next of kin of late primary school teachers with arrears from 1991 and provide an improved welfare package for teachers in public schools across the state.
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