Foundation Champions Advocacy to Improve Maths, English Language Skills

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The Kwara State Government has expressed its readiness to partner private sector and corporate organisations to advance the standard of education in the state.

Already, the government has collaborated with a non- governmental organisation, Saliu Mustapha Foundation, to boost Mathematics and English Language skills across all schools in the state.

The state Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Bilikisu Oniyangi, disclosed this to journalists in Ilorin, the state capital in preparation for the maiden Inter-Secondary School Mathematics and English competition sponsored by the foundation.

She restated the commitment of the state government towards ensuring adequate funding of education sector, noting that the ministry had designed policies and programmes aimed at rejuvenating the sector and accord it the place of pride.

She said education is seen as a collective responsibility in advanced climes with private individuals and corporate organisations undertaking infrastructural needs in schools through endowment fund.

The commissioner, who said all hands must be on deck to address the needs in the education, urged stakeholders to support the government in its quest to reposition the sector.

“It must be placed on record that the present government is committed to improving the standard of education in the state through adequate funding and provision of necessary infrastructural facilities. The ministry of education under my leadership has set out policies and programmes towards this direction.

“In advanced countries, education is seen as a collective social responsibility where private individuals and corporate organisations contribute to the development of educational sector through endowment, building of facilities, scholarship or through this kind of inter schools competition.

“This lofty initiative is commendable and worthy of emulation by individuals and corporate organisations, because to have a vibrant education sector, all hands of stakeholders must be on deck. The state government is ready for partnership that will advance the education sector”, the commissioner said.

Earlier in his remarks, , the representative of Saliu Mustapha Foundation, Mr Yakub Isowo, disclosed that the inter-school competition would commence simultaneously with preliminaries among 20 secondary schools in Kwara South, 20 in Kwara North and another 20 in Kwara Central on July 21.

He informed that 10 schools with good performance at the preliminaries would be selected from each zone to participate in the grand finale while the first, second and third best schools would be awarded alongside their Mathematics teachers at the grand finale holding August 4, 2018 at Queen Elizabeth Secondary School in Ilorin.