The Commissioner for Education in Ebonyi State, Paul Nwobasi, has identified activities of metal scavengers and land grabbers as major threats to education in the state.
He said effective teaching and learning in some schools in the state are being affected by land trespassers and those who damage property and cart away irons from school buildings.
Nwobashi made this known to The Point in Abakaliki during an interview.
Speaking on his ministry’s achievements and challenges in 2024, Nwobasi, a professor, disclosed that he has made efforts to prevent further destruction in schools but yet to yield desired results.
“We have also tried to settle many issues, school land grabbing issues, we had serious trespassers in our schools, like the recent one in Ohaozara LGA, and we also went to Isu where such trespasses are going on. This is affecting effective teaching and learning and poses a serious threat to school expansion and development,” he said.
Nwobasi warned land grabbers to stay-off school lands in the state or face full weight of the law irrespective of their status in the society.
The commissioner applauded the state governor, Francis Nwifuru for ninety percent completion of the world class 22 classroom blocks that were constructed three per LGA in the state, which he said has boosted the rate of school enrollment and level of literacy.
He also announced plans by the state government to kick start training and retraining of teachers to encourage efficient service delivery.
Lamenting vandalisation of schools, he said, “Let me tell you that we are in a very big shit, like the Americans will put it, we are in a serious deep shit. If you go to schools, windows have been removed by metal scavengers, doors have been removed, even the roofs, so the metal scavengers are a menace to the education system.
“We are trying as much as possible to see how we can engage our town union presidents to help us put in security in those places. We also talked about the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps coming to our aid through the school Security Initiatives so that they will be able to help us monitor some of these things.”
“At Azuyiokwu primary school, the whole roofs, headmasters’ office, and the seats have been carted away. So, the activities of metal scavengers are very serious problems. We are trying as much as possible to see how we can do it. We have called the local government chairmen to help us, to put security men in those schools because these schools are primarily under the jurisdiction of the local government chairmen, they should help us tackle some of these menaces,” he added.
On the ministry’s plan, he said, “With the increased budget in education for 2025 fiscal year, we want to commence construction of quarters for our teachers in school environments. If we put teachers in the school premises, it will go a long way in securing most of the school properties. It will also lessen the burden of teachers travelling from far away, taking into consideration the present economy of the country and it will reduce traveling stress.
“Also, in our budget for 2025, we shall start training and retraining of teachers, when teachers are not well trained, it becomes a problem to the system. We shall continue training our teachers in batches because learning is a continuous process to ensure efficiency in service delivery.”