Bayelsa reduces out-of-school children with enrollment of 40,000 pupils

A pilot project, BayelsaPrime Project, launched in four out of eight local government areas in Bayelsa State has recorded an upsurge in the pupils’ enrollment in the public schools with the enrollment of 40,000 pupils, thereby, reducing the number of out of school children in the State and in the Country at large.

Addressing the BayelsaPrime Project operators on Tuesday in Government House, Yenagoa, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, said emphasis should be on monitoring and supervision of teachers to ensure sustainability of the project.

Ewhrudjakpo said that the introduction of fingerprint to monitor teachers’ attendance coupled with the adoption of Output to Purpose Review (OPR) would improve the quality of education and help in the assessment of teachers’ performance.

BayelsaPrime Project took off in the upland local government areas of Kolokuma/Opokuma, Ogbia, Sagbama and Yenagoa and the second phase is expected to include the riverine local government areas of Brass, Ekeremor, Nembe and Southern Ijaw.

A statement by Doubara Atasi, Media Aide to the Deputy Governor, said Ewhrudjakpo commended the team for its efforts towards educational development in the State, stressing that education remains a government priority and is desirous of the project’s success.

Ewhrudjakpo said the State Government wanted the project to outlive the present Administration and it was important for operators to ensure its impact was felt at all times in the State educational sector.

He noted the role of manpower in any organisation, pointing out that regardless of the level of technology involved in human activities, the importance of the human factor could not be over-emphasised.

The deputy governor urged the BayelsaPrime operators not to rest on the successes so far achieved, but to pay attention to areas they needed to improve upon, particularly in the supervision of teachers.

“We want to commend you for what you are doing. Education makes it easier for people to contribute to society and difficult for them to be manipulated.

“We do not wish the programme to end soon. However, we want sustainability. We want a situation whereby even if Bayelsa Prime ends today, it leaves lasting legacies in the educational sector.

“Sustainability is the hallmark of every programme. While we commend you for what you are doing we want you to make sure that it is sustainable and spreads across the entire State.

“I really want you to look at how we can monitor the teachers; that is a key area. Yes, the students are doing good; are the teachers doing good as well? A person who is being supervised works differently from those not being supervised”, he said.

Earlier, Linus Adaikwu, Managing Director of BayelsaPrime, said the visit was to update the deputy governor on the progress the programme had recorded in some of the pilot public primary schools in four local government areas of the State.

He said BayelsaPrime had enhanced the reading capacity and literacy level of pupils as well as facilitated the enrollment of about 40,000 pupils through its “Come Back To School Campaigns.”