Enugu – The Federal School of Statistics (FSS) in Enugu has appealed to the state government to hasten the handover of Akpasha Boys Comprehensive Secondary School for its permanent site.
The Rector of the school, Mr Clement Achusim, made the appeal in Enugu on Tuesday at a workshop organised by the National Bureau of Statistics on capacity assessment and review of the curriculum of federal schools of statistics.
Achusim said that the Akpasha community in Nkanu West Local Government Area had given its consent and approval of using the school as its permanent site.
The rector urged the government to hasten the processes for accreditation of the school, noting that the Ibadan and Kaduna campuses had moved to their permanent sites and had been accredited.
“The National Bureau of Statistics has over the years focused its attention on how to improve the schools of statistics in Ibadan, Kaduna and Enugu in the areas of capacity assessment, curriculum improvement and permanent site acquisition,’’ he said.
He noted that the bureau had trained the statistical manpower needed for the Nigerian statistical system, noting that the workshop would add more value to the school’s standard in achieving its mandate.
In a keynote address, the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale, said that the aim of the workshop was to reposition the federal schools of statistics.
Kale said it would operate in conformity with the set standard by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
The statistician general said the bureau had assisted all levels of governments in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of their programmes and projects.
“The bureau has put in place the necessary machineries to obtain accreditation of the school’s statistics courses 1 and 2 by the NBTE.
“It will serve as an equivalent of the National Diploma programme in statistics obtained in polytechnics.
“NBTE has approved two more courses thereby moving the schools from monotechnics to polytechnics,” he said.
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He called on the Federal Government to support the bureau in upgrading the existing infrastructure in the schools as well as raising their capacity as knowledge-driven institutions.
The European Union consultant that funded the project, Ms Alache Ode, who reviewed the curriculum, said that the programme was to look into the curriculum for statistical students.
She admitted that in her report, Enugu was not included in the project and promised to add the state after the stakeholders meeting.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Education in the state, Prof. Uche Eze, stressed the need for a regular review of the statistics curriculum to meet international standards. (NAN)