Sustaining, raising quality of education for brighter future

AS THE 5th democratically elected Governor of Anambra State, Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludoremains a mystery to many people. For a man who sees his government as one agenda with a timeframe, his only vision is to see results, not just mere results, but in concrete terms. His ultimate interest which is to make Anambra, not just a habitable state, but also a prosperous homeland has already taken off in full force, and he is gradually and systematically restoring hope and confidence in the state.

During his campaign, he made some promises to ‘ndiAnambra’ and parts of those promises were on education enhancement and job creation. 

Concerning education sector, he said that his administration will focus on developing the competence of teachers in the state and restoring teaching as a profession of pride.  He also said that his administration would work towards professionalism, and unique Anambra teachers with special Anambra certification based upon quality, capacity building and competences.

According to him, this is to ensure that the learning needs of all are met through equitable distribution of resources and learning of lifelong skills, maintaining the top position as the state with the lowest literacy rate in Nigeria.

It is still a mystery to many ndiAnambra, both home and in the  diaspora that in 2022, while many state governments in Nigeria were still struggling to fully recover from the many evils of COVID-19 pandemic, and while many states were still owning their workers, some up to 10 months, the governor  on  May 1, 2022, during the Workers’ Day celebration, directed the recruitment of more teachers into public schools in the state and instructed that an online registration platform be created for eligible Anambra candidates to apply. This is to eliminate and end the era of schools without teachers.

The governor also insisted that no other condition other than merit should be the consideration for the recruitment and promised that recruitments under his watch must be free, transparent and fair which he defines as Anambra’s standard, and this came to bear in all the steps of the recruitment.

On December 2, barely eight months in office, in addition to other key foundational issues and achievements which are simultaneously going on through the five pillars of his government, Governor Soludo hosted a historic event, to ceremoniously hand over appointment letters to the potential teachers.

The International Convention Center, Awka, venue of the event was filled up with young teachers whose feeling of excitement dominantly rented the air. 2,500 teachers each were recruited into primary and secondary school systems

For Governor Soludo, it is a promise kept, a promise which is reflected on the People’s Manifesto where he assured to “position Anambra as a centre of excellence for human capital development and proactively leapfrog Anambra students and youths as Africa’s digital tribe”; to develop a robust human capital that is productive at home and exportable abroad. The teachers’ recruitment is an effort to get Anambra schools to continue to meet the best possible pupil or students-teacher ratio.

From start to finish, the recruitment process was laced with merit and was used to put an end to the phenomenon of giving “slots” to highly placed people to nominate their candidates. In fact, it is on record that even the governor himself did not have a slot.

In addition, Governor ChukwumaSoludo-led administration understands what it means when teachers are empowered to work, so in his magnanimity, he went on to pay these newly recruited teachers their full December salaries with all other benefits within one month of engaging them. Infact, this is simply unprecedented and for these teachers, nothing short of their best is expected of them.

During the December 2 event, the governor hinted his administration’s plan of equipping the teachers with lifelong learning tools and certification – a march towards professionalism.

He also noted that professionalism is the watch word of Anambra’s education sector, assuring of on-the-job training to better prepare them for the job.

Looking at the blueprint, it is obvious that the governor has secured the future of our children from getting the best education through the best teachers to acquiring at least two post-school skill through one youth two skills. The future is indeed bright.

He has also insisted on certification of schools, ensuring that the era of quack schools and quack teachers are over in Anambra.