By Chukwuka Ugokwe :
Ugbene Community in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State was thrown into celebration following take over of the Comprehensive Secondary School by the State government.
The school, established five years ago had been managed by the community and certain spirited members of the town, including former President General, Emmanuel Nwude and his Secretary, Emmanuel Ibe.
Speaking during the occasion, Governor Chukwuma Soludo said the school’s takeover was in line with his administration’s vision of providing quality education to the people of the state.
Represented by Commissioner for Education, Prof Ngozi Chuma Udeh, Soludo added that the exercise would bring the total number of secondary schools in the State to 268.
“Ugbene is a progressive community that thinks about the future generation. I want to assure you that the way Governor built quality roads for you is the way he will give you quality education.
“We’ll post quality teachers and Principal that will teach all subjects. We’ll also ensure your lab is adequately equipped.
“We post JS1 and SS2 from students who passed Common Entrance and Basic Education Certificate Examination respectively,” he said.
Earlier, President General of the community, Chief Emmanuel Chike praised Governor Chukwuma Soludo for lifting the burden of management of the school off their shoulders.
He however appealed for the absorption of 15 indigenous teachers who have been engaged in the school since inception into the ongoing teachers recruitment.
He also pleaded for security personnel, assuring that the teachers who passed examination set by the Ministry would stay and work in the community if posted.
He said, “Ugbene Community shall continue to appreciate the Governor of the state for his numerous developmental project across the state, especially for his kind approval for the handover ceremony to take place.
“Indeed, the Solution is here. To our erudite Prof Ngozi Chuma Udeh, your records so far are outstanding and can’t be equated with the previous commissioners from the Ministry of education.”
Chairman, Post Primary Schools Service Commission (PPSSC) Prof Nkechi Ikediugwu said the Commission is willing to meet the community’s request, but insisted that only qualified teachers would be deployed to the school.
“We won’t take NCE as well as those who failed the teachers’ recruitment examination in accordance with Soludo’s directive of quality education,” she stressed.
Secretary, PPSSC, Benedine Anagor disclosed that the community was the third school the government was taking over in the Area Council.
Traditional Ruler of the community, Igwe Samson Chimakwa who was full of thanks to the state government for coming to their aid, expressed optimism of improved system following the handover process.
“We’ve suffered for years taking care of the school until the government decided to take over the school. We expect to see improvement both in quality and quantity of the school,” he posited.
Acting Principal of the school, Mrs. Okoye Evangeline described the handover ceremony as ‘load lifting’, expressing confidence of better welfare package for teachers and other workers in the school.
