Obi gives N1bn to equip school labs, libraries

A few days after Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State presented cheques to the tune of N6.5 billion for the rehabilitation of primary schools returned to the churches and those owned by the state government, as well as the upgrade of missionary hospitals, he presented another cheque of N1 billion yesterday to strengthen libraries and laboratory facilities in 420 secondary schools and those returned to the churches in the state.
Speaking during the presentation in Awka, Governor Obi said it was part of the N40 billion his government was committing in the next six months into various sectors, as final push towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
He said the money was not borrowed from any financial institution but as a result of savings, prudent management of resources and unprecedented support the state enjoyed from development partners.
Giving an insight on the last push in the area of education, the governor said in a few days time the state would employ teachers in core subjects, such as English, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, among others.
According to him, this is in addition to the ongoing recruitment of 5, 000 teachers in the state whose salaries for one year after his exit from government had been saved in the bank.
He also said the state had already procured 500 buses from local manufacturers, Coscharis and Innoson, to be shared to public and private schools.
Other things he said would be provided to secondary schools before the end of the year include 25, 000 laptop installed, with full school syllables and books, generators, sick bays and internet connectivity.
On why the support is for both public and private schools, Governor Obi, who said some people raised that issue at the planning level, insisted that he was not concerned about ownership of those schools but the fact that they trained the children of the state.
He said he was encouraged because the massive support he gave to schools in the past had manifested in the improved performance of the schools in the state.

Earlier, Commissioner for Education, Dr. Mrs. Uju Okeke, said: “The event of today is one of 13 series of events to fully implemented Anambra State package on accelerative progress in the attainment of education for all in the state tagged final push.
“There is no doubt that our investment and efforts are yielding maximum results. Just recently the Basic Education Certificate Examination results released by our Exam Development Centre indicated that out of 46, 741 candidates who sat for the examination, 45, 196 (96.69 per cent) passed at Credit Levels and only 1, 545 (3.3 per cent) failed.
“In the last NECO examination into junior secondary schools, nationwide, Anambra State pupil took the overall first position. The Senior School Certificate Examination result analysis of WAEC recently released clearly shows that our schools are making significant improvement.”
In their own remarks, Commissioners for Local Government, Mrs. Azuka Enemuo and her Planning cCounterpart, Prof. Chinyere Okunna, said the good things coming to the state was because the governor had remained committed and focused in serving the people.