Abia’s primary and secondary school teachers have recommended measures to implement the government’s free education policy successfully.
A cross-section of the teachers, including head teachers and principals, made the recommendation in separate interviews during a survey in Umuahia and Aba.
The teachers hailed Governor Alex Otti for the free education policy, which, they said, would promote social development and crime reduction.
Nkechinyere Usuka, the headmistress of Umuakpara Community Primary School, Okpokoroala Village in Osisioma LGA, said with the initiative, the governor had made a positive impact in the lives of many families.
Ms Usuka expressed joy that the government provided public schools with diaries, registers, and funds to run schools and abolish levies. She, however, said that her school lacked a library and enough books for pupils, seats for teachers and pupils, and a perimeter fence to secure lives and property in the school.
She said that the school was suffering from a shortage of teachers, adding that they also needed a first aid box and water. She said that the classrooms needed an upgrade with the enrolment of new pupils.
Odochi Amalaha, the principal of Alaiyi Community Senior Secondary, Umuugo, Ugwunagbo LGA, said that the school desperately needed more teachers.
Ms Amalaha said she had less than nine teachers, hence the employment of teachers who the PTA paid. She appealed to the government to give full employment to the PTA teachers who, she said, had sacrificed so much to ensure the students got a good education.
She added that the school lacked seats for teachers and students and functional science laboratories.
Nwadiuto Ugochukwu, the headmistress of Umuugo Community Primary School, Umuugo, Ugwunagbo LGA, said the school lacked adequate teachers, textbooks and exercise books, water and security.
Alen Nwogu, the principal of Ehere Community Comprehensive Secondary School, Ehere, Ogbor Hill, Obingwa LGA, said his school lacked adequate teachers, especially in sciences, plus inadequate classrooms and conveniences.
“There is no security. Hoodlums come in freely to vandalise the school’s property. They even broke our cesspit sometime ago and took away the iron rods,” he said.
The headmistress of Ehere Primary School, Ogbor Hill, Obingwa LGA, Peculiar Chimdindu, said they needed more teachers, improved conveniences, and security to stop vandalism of their property.
Ijeoma Uzoije, the assistant headmistress of Alaoji Nomadic Primary School, Alaoji, Ugwunagbo LGA, said some pupils did not even have school uniforms and suggested that the government could help them with uniforms.
“Our school has about 60 pupils. We have seats, but we don’t have classrooms. We have a borehole, but no pumping machine, our toilets have been vandalised, and the doors and roofs have been removed. We don’t have land so we need land for the teaching of agriculture, for recreational purposes and expansion of the school structures.
“This classroom block is the only one we have for a school situated in a village and soon it cannot accommodate the number of pupils seeking admission,” Ms Uzoije said.
The headmistress of Tenant Road Primary School, Onyekachi Uka, advised the governor to shut down substandard private schools in the state to ensure sound education for Abia children.
Christiana Ukaumunna of East Street Primary School, Aba South LGA, called for re-introducing the school feeding programme while appealing to parents and guardians to allow their children and wards to return to public schools.
The headmistress of Clifford Road Primary School, Aba South LGA, Olaego Echem, said the school feeding programme would help “because some parents are finding it difficult to feed the children at home.”
The headmistress of Ogbo Central Primary School, Blessing Akano, said the school needed textbooks, recreational facilities, security, and improved welfare so that teachers could perform their duties adequately.
“Although the government has been providing textbooks, the number does not go round, and the books are vital for making teaching and learning more efficient. Also, the government needs to provide recreational facilities for the pupils because it is essential for their physical and social development,” Ms Akano said.
She underscored the need for improved security in schools and the construction of new conveniences, saying that hoodlums had vandalised the existing ones.
The headmistress of Avonipupe Primary School, Umuahia South LGA, Ngozi Mark, pointed out the need for adequate security to safeguard the school’s property and ensure a conducive learning environment.
The principal of Eziama/Mgbaja Community Junior Secondary School, Flora Okechi, said more teachers are urgently needed.
“Currently, we don’t have a Mathematics teacher, and the English teacher was only recently transferred from another school. We have been relying on PTA teachers. But, since we no longer collect PTA levies, we need government intervention.
“The school has only two classrooms and a hall, which are insufficient for the growing student population. Therefore, we need more classroom blocks to accommodate the students who will join us in the future,” Ms Okechi said.
Ms Okechi added that the school needed a library, seats and tables for teachers and students to support teaching and learning.
“This is a new school, but we don’t have enough seats…We didn’t receive the tablets for data recording because the school, established in 2022, is not yet fully captured in the records,” Ms Okechi stated.
Nneka Anosike, the assistant headmistress of Ugwunchara Primary School 1, Umuahia North LGA, advised the Abia government to take urgent steps to checkmate the vandalism of school property, which could pose a threat to the implementation of its free education scheme.
Ms Anosike also recommended building school teachers’ quarters, fencing the premises, and recruiting security men to beef up school security.
(NAN)
