The Enugu State Government has directed all the Chairmen of the Local Government Councils, Traditional Rulers, and Presidents of Town Unions in the state to take full ownership/responsibility of the SMART Green Schools in their various council areas and communities.
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The Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, who gave the directive at a very crucial SMART Green School stakeholders’ security meeting in Enugu, also directed them to form security councils at both local governments, communities, and ward levels to ensure adequate security of the children and equipment/facilities installed in the schools.
Prof. Onyia reminded the stakeholders that members of the security councils must be very credible members of society who should work with the neighbourhood watch groups in their various communities/wards to provide adequate security at the school.
He noted that the administration of His Excellency Barr. Peter Mbah invested hundreds of billions of naira in both infrastructure and procurement of equipment in the SMART Green Schools, adding that the Government will not allow charlatans and enemies of progress to vandalize or make away with any equipment in the school for their selfish ends.
The SSG, therefore, requested that the stakeholders see the schools as priority projects, organize frequent visits/inspections to monitor the groups in the school, and send a monthly report to his office.
He made it clear that any stolen equipment from the school must be replaced by the community/wards where the school is located, adding that once the school is handed over to them, they must take charge and ensure a periodic inventory of items supplied and signed by both the Headteacher and the stakeholders.
In his speech, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Barr. Victor Udeh described the SMART Green School project as very dear to the Governor and a very bold step to demonstrate that education is one of the main thrusts of his administration.
According to Barr. Udeh, education is the surest way to lift people out of poverty, a means of livelihood for a lifetime, and the administration allocated 33.3 percent of the state budget to education.
The Chief of Staff urged the stakeholders at the meeting to take the issues seriously and reminded them that the SMART Green School belongs to them and as such they should sit down and work out strategies that would help them provide adequate security to protect, monitor, supervise and sustain both the state of the art equipment and facilities provided by government to better the lots of their children.
He noted that the government will not take kindly to any community/wards that try to disrupt the activities in the SMART Green Schools, where it has made a huge investment, and therefore, called on the stakeholders to work as a team to benefit from the gains of the world-class facilities installed in the school.
The Executive Chairman of the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), Assoc. Prof. Hyginus Banko Okibe, in his report on the current situation of things in the SMART Green School project, said that 90% of work on the project had been completed, with work still ongoing to have each school fully completed and all the needed equipment/facilities put in place.
Prof. Okibe took time to go down the memory lane on how the SMART Green School programme came about/initiated, pointing out that the project was designed to change the narrative in the basic education sector in the state for the betterment of our children and future generation.
The Executive Chairman appreciated all those who contributed in one way or another to the effective monitoring and execution of the project and reminded the stakeholders that the times are over when people have the orientation that government property is not their own.
According to him, business as usual should not be the impression this time, especially with the take off of the SMART Green School in the state.
He disclosed that as part of the preparations for the SMART Green Schools to take off in September, Chairmen of Local Government Areas have been directed to reconstruct all the access roads leading to the schools.
He stressed that ENSUBEB and the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the TRCN, have completed all the necessary preliminary pre-qualification tests on digital literacy and subject content specialty for school teachers who will migrate to the school.
Prof. Okibe explained that from now on, teachers in Primary 1-3 will continue to teach all subjects to their pupils, while teachers in Primary 4-6 will handle specific subject areas where they are specialized, to enable the government to know where to direct more attention and get it right.
He spoke on the need for effective monitoring/supervision of schools by community leaders and regular reports to the Board to enable it to know how best to address any identified problems, especially laxity among the teachers.
Also, the SPA to the Governor, Dr Chinyere Onyishi, outlined some of the facilities provided by the government to equip the Smart Green Schools, which was first experimented in Owo SMART Green School, and their benefits for the children.
The one-day stakeholders’ security meeting was attended by some members of the State Executive Councils, Traditional Rulers, President General of Town Unions, Local Government Chairmen, Members of Civil Society, Heads of Government Agencies, and Political Appointees.