By Friday Idachaba
Lokoja – Kogi House of Assembly has called on the State Government to establish more full-fledged Government Secondary Schools in the 21 Local Government Areas of the state.
The call was contained in a resolution of the House on Tuesday in Lokoja after adopting a motion to that effect raised by Idris Ndako (PDP-Lokoja II) at the plenary.
Soliciting the support of his colleagues for the motion, Ndako posited that education was the best legacy any government could give its citizens.
He added that the place of education in manpower development and socio-economic growth in any society could not be over-emphasized.
“Each local government area of the state required at least three Government Secondary Schools (GSS),” he said.
Ndako decried the increasing rate of pupils’ dropout in the state, especially in rural areas, because many parents could not afford the expensive fees charged by private secondary schools.
“There is the urgent need for the establishment of GSS in the state to provide for Senior Secondary School classes which the UBE is lacking,” he said.
Seconding the motion, Friday Sani (PDP-Igalamela-Odolu), said it was unhealthy to toy with the education of children and youths as leaders of tomorrow.
Godwin Osiyi (PDP-Ogori-Magongo) held that instead of establishing new ones, the existing schools should be strengthened and teachers’ welfare prioritized.
The Speaker, Alhaji Umar Imam, said that the motion was good although getting qualified teachers for the existing schools and taking care of their welfare remained a herculean task.
The Speaker, thereafter, adopted the motion following majority voice votes from the members.