S’South students lament poor funding of education in N’Delta

Students’ associations in the Niger Delta, acting under the aegis of the South-South Students’ Assembly, have alleged poor funding of education in the region.

The SSSA, led by its National President, Michael Christianus, met with the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, in Abuja.

The students called on the Federal Government to establish a Niger Delta Scholarship Board, noting that there was a need to reposition the region as an education-based and science-oriented society, away from the militancy and violence associated with the youth.

Christianus urged the government to establish an education task force to monitor the spending of funds released for the development of infrastructure and the provision of facilities in tertiary institutions and colleges across the country.

He said, “We request from the ministry the establishment of a Niger Delta Scholarship Board to help in addressing the problems of poor funding in education and the helplessness of teeming students in the region. We want to partner the ministry in the area of scholarship grants to our students in the Niger Delta from the existing Federal Scholarship Board. We want to remind the government that education is the bedrock of any society.

“We ask for the creation of an Education Federation Account to raise enough capital to rebuild the infrastructural decay in our school system. The government should also inaugurate an education taskforce to monitor the spending of funds released to develop infrastructural facilities in our universities and polytechnics nationwide.

“The ministry must invent a master plan aimed at addressing the development of our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, by adopting a university and polytechnic per geopolitical zone for infrastructural overhauling and development. The ministry should also establish in each institution, liaison offices to address issues of examination malpractices, sexual abuses by lecturers, victimisation of students and other forms of negligence of by lecturers.”

Adamu, who was represented by the Director, Tertiary Education, Samuel Ojo, promised that the demands of the students would be conveyed to the minister for appropriate action.