Anambra’s improving educational system and its cabinet of educational laurels

Who doesn’t know that education is the chief cornerstone of national development in all countries of the world? Without functional educational systems, many third world countries will continue to remain trapped in the quagmire of underdevelopment. Countries that are pacesetters in the areas of economics and science and technology have first rate universities that are bastion of scholarly activities and researches. So, national leaders that are desirous of transforming their countries pay huge attention to issues that are related to education. 

Back in Nigeria, there is rot in our educational system. From the primary schools, to post-primary schools, and to universities, our schools are afflicted with corruption. So, not surprisingly, graduates that are churned out of our universities yearly are unknowledgeable and morally bankrupt. Fixing our educational problems has become a desideratum owing to the importance of education in national development. 

But, Anambra State, which is part of Nigeria’s federation, has the singular good fortune and luck of having governors that have great liking for educational and set store by it. In this regard, Mr. Peter Obi, the immediate past governor of Anambra State, readily comes to our minds. It is he who boosted the morale of teachers in the state by improving their welfare. In order to ensure and guarantee the efficient management of schools in the state, he handed many schools over to the church.

 Not being unaware that one’s knowledge of computer will put one on the cutting edge of information technology, he equipped secondary schools in Anambra State with computers. Not only do the students receive theoretical knowledge on computer, but also they have hands-on experience about how computers are operated. More so, he donated school buses to them, and provided conducive environment for learning in those schools by repairing dilapidated school buildings, and broken chairs and tables.

 Thankfully, the current governor of Anambra State has continued to support initiatives that would improve the quality of education obtainable in schools in the state. Their input to our state educational development has been yielding unquantifiable dividends. For many successive years, Anambra had topped the chart in examinations like NECO and SSCE in the country. And Loretto Special Science School, Agulu, Anambra emerged as the best senior secondary school in Nigeria in 2014. It is a public school. 

Anambra State has the enviable track record of producing distinguished and fine scholars in diverse disciplines. Anambra is a space that is crawling with globally acclaimed and recognized mathematicians, scientists, writers, bluestockings, and revered academics. A roll call of Anambra’s great educational personalities includes Professor Chike Obi. A native of Onitsha,Anambra state, Chike Obi achieved fame for his mathematical ingenuity. A bluestocking and peerless novelist, Chimamanda Adiche is Nigeria’s literary ambassador to the world. The erudition and oratorical prowess of late Chuba Okadigbo, a native of Anambra State, always wowed and held people spellbound in the national assembly.

 And Anambra State has not relented on producing scholars and academics of global stature. The winner of the maiden edition of the maltina teacher of the year in 2015 is Mrs. Rose Nkem Obi. The fair-skinned and lithe beauty, whose humility and modesty masked her exceptional beauty, is a native of Agulu, Anambra State. Rose Obi attended Loretto Special Science School, Agulu -a school which shaped her personality. With a head for figures, she excelled in such science subjects as physics, chemistry, and mathematics. 

Today, Mrs. Rose Nkem Obi is a role model and inspiration to our youths. She gives speeches and lectures on special occasions, which motivate and spur young people to aspire to attain great heights in their educational pursuits and other endeavours. At the Book sense season three Brain award for the three best students in the Basic Education Certificate 2015, in Anambra State, she admonished  students from diverse secondary schools not be deterred by impediments placed on their road to achieving academic success.

 It is heart-warming that corporate organizations are partnering with state governments to revive love of learning and scholarship among students. The chief reason why millions of people who graduated from Nigerian Universities are philistines is the erosion of family values among us. Instead of encouraging their children to study hard for their examinations, some parents buy SSCE certificates and University admissions for them. While in universities, these indolent students trade sex for grades and buy grades with money in order to graduate from their schools.

 But, Book sense, a publisher of educational literature, is reviving the dying culture of reading among our students by instituting awards that reward the three best performing Junior Secondary school students in the Basic Education Certificate Examination in Anambra State. In its maiden edition, Edwin Glory Chinedu emerged as the winner.She was succeeded as the academic queen by Egeonu Ijeoma Blessing in the second season of the award, which was last year.

 This year’s award–giving ceremony took place at Emmaus House, Awka on June 8, 2016. Those in attendance, who sat at the high table included Dr GUO Okeke, a business mogul, who was chairman of the event; Hon (Dr)Pete Ibida, a member of the Anambra house of assembly; Mrs. Rose Obi, 2015 Nigeria’s  maltina teacher of the year winner; Lady Joy Ulasi, chairman, post-primary school service commission, and others.

 It’s Miss Ebube Brenda Izuehi, who won the first prize this year; and she was crowned the queen. A blend of physical attractiveness and brain, she attributed her stunning performance in the examination to hard work and her studious nature. Her father bought past examination questions papers and books for her; and she buried herself in those books for her father tasked her to excel above other examination candidates in that examination. Ebube Brenda Izuehi is a student of Holy Child Convent, Amichi, Anambra state.

 What Book Sense has been during is a commendable deed. Now, beauty pageants are features and fixtures in our schools and on campuses across the country. But here a private enterprise has instituted award to reward three best students who excel in an examination. It is an educational initiative with the potentiality to revive the dying culture of reading and hard work among young people. Readers are leaders.

Chiedu Uche Okoye