Stakeholders in the education sector have applauded President Bola Tinubu and Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa for their giant strides in the sector since May 29, 2023.
Some of the stakeholders gave their assessments in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Keffi Local Government Area of the state.
They were particularly elated with the issue of remuneration of staff and welfare of students in tertiary institutions.
According to Prof. Orame Alaku, Dean, Faculty of Education, Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), Tinubu’s administration increased the salary of academic staff of universities since coming on board.
“For some years, we have been agitating for this increment but nothing happened.
“We even embarked on strike to get the government to meet our demand to no avail until Tinubu came to effect it, which is a plus,” he said.
Alaku also applauded the Tinubu’s administration for the recent approval of scholarship for final year students studying education in all tertiary institutions in the country.
“This is another plus to this administration given the current economic realities that most parents find it difficult to pay school fees and so on. This will go a long way to assist them,” he said.
Also, Mr Peter Ahemba, Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Sule on Public Affairs, pointed out the launching of the Student Loan Scheme by the President as part of the administration’s commitment to empower Nigerian youths with the resources to get educated and achieve their dreams in life.
He noted that Gov. Sule had made giant strides in education among which is the allocation of more than 20 per cent of the state’s annual budget to the sector in 2024.
Ahemba said that the governor had provided massive infrastructure and interventions in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the state.
The SSA said that the Sule-led administration had also employed thousands of teachers for the primary and secondary schools across the state.
“As we speak, the process of recruitment of more than 4,000 teachers is ongoing through the state Universal Basic Education Board.
“The recruitment approved by the governor is to ensure that there is adequate manpower to cater to the educational needs of pupils and students in the state,” he said.
Similarly, Dr Hauwa’u Mainoma, Director, Centre for Gender Studies, Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK) applauded Gov. Sule for recruiting more teachers in public schools across the state.
“The governor has done a lot especially for making provision of more classrooms in the secondary and primary schools as well as renovation of old classrooms.
“Also with regards to tertiary education, the governor has really done well especially in the Nasarawa State University.
“In the past, the University management was responsible for payment of salary of staff. But now, the state government has taken that burden off the management, thereby giving to opportunity to concentrate on developmental projects in the university, ” she added. (NAN)
Olukayode Babalola
