An activist, Mr Vincent Ezekwueme, on Thursday called on the three tiers of government to support full fledged educational development through the establishment of “National Education Bank”.
Ezekwueme, who is the Chairman of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Anambra, made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on the 2021 International Literacy Day (ILD).
It would be recalled that UNESCO had fixed Sept. 8 yearly as International Literacy Day to create awareness on issues challenging the attainment of “education or literary for all’’ especially for children/youths worldwide.
The activist said that the financial institution when established would cater for the interest of brilliant but indigent students which paucity of fund truncates their academic careers.
According to him, the bank will also provided the needed funding for research and academic development lacking in most tertiary institutions due to inadequate governmental or owners’ funding in the first place.
He said: “It will be a step in the right direction for government and stakeholders to see education of every Nigerian child as a right, not a privilege.
“Education should be prioritised and subsidised by the government as a veritable and inevitable weapon to win the war against poverty, ignorance, inferiority complex and man’s inhumanity against man’’.
Ezekwueme called for concerted efforts by governments, educational policies formulators and stakeholders to introduce education of head, hand and heart as well as skill acquisitions, moral ethnics and patriotism in schools.
“This is necessary in order to produce students not only sound in morals and academics but also job creators not job seekers.
“Government should establish a special fund for young authors to source money to publish their books.
“There should be yearly awards for outstanding authors in order to boost our educational sector and increase reading and learning culture,” he added.
He noted that properly educated youths with morality precipitate discipline, peaceful and responsible citizenry and future.
NAN reports that the 2021 International Literacy Day is themed: “Literacy for a Human-centered Recovery: Narrowing the Digital Divide”.
(NAN)