Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State has on Wednesday paid an unscheduled visit to the Government Comprehensive Secondary School Jalingo aimd at seeing the condition of the school for himself.
The Government owned public School is situated in the State capital and used to be for an exchange program where students are brought from the 19 Northern States of Nigeria, to study.
Dr. Agbu Kefas, during the visit, expressed sadness over the dilapidated state of the school which led to giving an executive directive to close down the school immediately for renovation.
He said the school closure became imperative to enable Government have space for remodeling the structures for a better and more conducive learning environment as well as the well-being of both the students and teachers.
“What I have seen here in the school premises is an eyesore. As a parent, I cannot bet that any student schooling here will comfortably study competitively,” the Governor regretted.
Governor Agbu Kefas urged the students to be of good behaviors as they would resume after the renovation and pledged to provide them with iPad through the school management.
He, however, expressed dismay over Taraba State being at the bottom of the National Education ratings, especially in the public primary and secondary schools examination performances.
Speaking, the Principal of the School Mrs. Happiness Emmanuel expressed delight over Governor Agbu’s visit and appreciated him for coming to see things for himself.
She narrated to the governor how she sourced funds to fix windows on assuming office as Principal after having an intention of rejecting the posting, looking at the deplorable condition of the school but later acknowledged her husband’s advice to stay and correct things.
The Principal described the condition of the hostels as unhygienic and a major challenge facing the school because there were no beds, many students used cartons to sleep on, while some brought mats from home.
She appealed to the Governor to come to their aid, as a Unity School where students from the 19 Northern States come to study.
Contributing, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Idris Goje expressed concern about the condition of the school.
“When I came, I saw the situation of the school, had it been I have the power, I could have closed the school then. In my handing over note, I summited this issue, their kitchen and everywhere is bad, the hostels are flooding, they don’t have chairs and desks, but by the grace of God, things would be right,” Goje was optimistic.
In a related development, Governor Agbu Kefas also paid a surprise visit to the Government Science Secondary School Jalingo where he assured the students that his administration would give them quality education.
The governor was accompanied by his Deputy, Aminu Alkali, Secretary to the Government of the State, Chief G.T Kataps, the Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Kezito Bonzena, and some legislators among other government functionaries.
Recalled that Governor Agbu Kefas, during his inaugural speech over two weeks back declared a State of Emergency on the Educational Sector in the State.
COV/Sani Sulaiman/Jalingo
