From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Kogi State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Wemi Jones, has assured parents, students and other stakeholders in the education sector of the safety of lives and property as schools reopen Monday, 14th September, 2020.
The Commissioner gave the assurance when he paid an assessment visit to the three tertiary education institutions in the Kogi East Senatorial district to gauge their level of preparedness for the resumption of schools.
He called on the institutions to ensure that cultism and other social misbehaviors on their campuses are checkmated in line with the governor’s directives , saying that the government has put in place a security model using the latest technology to guarantee safety and security of the institution’s communities.
He said, the government is collaborating with the Security Trust Fund for the implementation , which requires all the institutions to key into it.
The Commissioner also assured them that the government frowns at insufficiency of hostels on the campuses and had worked out a model at no cost to the schools , asking them to key into the scheme to up campus residence by students.
The Commissioner, who commended Governor Yahaya Bello, whose posture against merchandising , commercialisation and promotion of Covid-19 has made the state to be the only state in the country without the presence of the coronavirus.
He also called on the schools to adjust their academic calendars to address the current reality to cover the five months lost to the pandemic.
The Provost College of Education, Ankpa, Dr. Mohammad Badaru Salihu, the Vice Chancellor of the Kogi State University, Anyigba, Professor Morietu Tenuche and the Provost, College of Health Sciences and Technology, Idah, Comrade Nuhu Solomon Anyegwu, assured the Commissioner of their readiness to adjust academic calendar to cover the lost ground.
While saying the move would not affect the quality and standard of education in the state, they commended the government for demarketing Covid-19 in the state.
The AUTHORITY reports that the Commissioner, who was accompanied by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Dr. Gabriel Ottah and other principal officers of the Ministry of Education, noted that with the level of preparation he has seen in the schools, there would be no need of panicking on resumption.
