By Ben Ngwakwe, Gombe
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has said that the disparity in the quality of life between those who embraced education and those who do not was a stark and enduring reminder of the profound benefits that education provided.
He stressed that no surveys are needed to highlight this difference but it is evident in every dimension of the society.
The Vice President noted that the North-East sub-region, in particular, has been a victim of the collective inability to enforce a uniform policy to drive school enrolment and the persistent cultural aversion to formal education by various communities.
Speaking at the launching of the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme in Bauchi,on Saturday, May 18, 2024, Senator Shettima said the consequences of their failure are damning and are reflected in all indices they used to assess the nation’s progress.
According to him, “Each of us is where we are because of the privilege of education. We are here because, somewhere along our paths, someone set in place an environment to learn and an incentive to continue. This tradition of promoting education must not be broken. We are here to embark on a noble pursuit of intervention to keep alive the opportunities that have enabled various generations of us to be where we are today. It is my ultimate honour to present this intervention to you.”
“We occupy bottommost positions in various rankings of social services and benefits, with education being a key sector of such dysfunction. This is especially pronounced in post-primary education, where the Northeast’s secondary school enrolment rate stands at a mere 19%, far below the national average of 39%.
“While primary education provides the foundational interest in Western education, it is secondary education that serves as the critical bridge between students and their paths to becoming self-reliant and relevant in modern society. Secondary schools are the link to that phase of life where students gain the education necessary to be gainfully employed and employable. It is this reality that propels the launch of the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme (ASSEP) today in Bauchi State,” he added.
According to VP, “through ASSEP, we aim to tackle the dysfunction at this critical level of education by transforming key educational outcomes across three major result areas. First, we aim to ensure that admissions to tertiary institutions are more accessible. Second, we strive to pave the way for skills development among students and to equip them to adapt to the realities of the 21st century. Third, we are committed to upgrading teacher quality in our schools and preparing educators to stay relevant amidst the disruptive wave of artificial intelligence—a future we must be ready to embrace.
“The North-East Development Commission stands firm in its mission to execute His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision for this geopolitical zone. Mr. President treats our challenges as top priorities, from the security lapses we have inherited to this setback in our educational pursuits. This is why ASSEP is being rolled out as one of the solutions to our unique challenges.
“Through ASSEP, we will stimulate high-quality learning and incentivize achievement in science and skills development. We will ensure our classrooms meet modern standards and activate a robust academic culture through practices such as quiz competitions, examination coaching, virtual instruction, and teacher quality upgrades.
“Our implementation strategies for ASSEP will be phased, progressive, and multi-year. They will address both immediate and long-term needs. In the first phase, we will prioritize investment in solving problems that require instant intervention. The second phase will lay the foundation for expansion, and the third phase will see the programme extended and scaled.
“The interventions under ASSEP are tailored to meet the needs of our people. We will ensure our school curricula are both comprehensive and relevant. We will adopt technology that enhances learning and tackle the human resource deficits that hinder the progress of the state in the sub-region.”
He called on every stakeholder to give these interventions a chance and embrace the solution as their doorway to a future where their human capital would be a prized asset of the nation.
