Abia expanding education frontlines through smart schools—Otti

Abia expanding education frontlines through smart schools—Otti

Gov. Alex Otti of Abia has reiterated that his administration was expanding the frontlines of quality education through the construction of smart schools across the state.

Otti said this while inaugurating the Umuomayiukwu Smart School in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area(LGA) on Wednesday, one of the 20 smart schools being built across the 17 LGAs of the state.

The governor said the initiative was to equip children for the future as education remained the bedrock of sustainable development.

‘”My administration is investing in modern learning facilities to nurture innovation, critical thinking and excellence among young people.

“The smart school initiative is designed to provide pupils with rich experiential learning with state-of-the-art facilities and highly trained teachers.

“The remainder of the year will be busy as we open the new schools to expand the learning front lines for about 6,000 pupils across the state,” he said.

He noted that the project reflected his administration’s long-term vision of preparing children for a knowledge-driven economy.

“The entire ecosystem from the classrooms to general environment, teachers quality and facilities, is to inspire the pupils to dream and aspire towards greatness.

“Prosperity in the modern era depends more on the capacity of the human mind to create value than on natural resources,” he said.

Otti urged the pupils to take advantage of the free education and world-class facilities provided by the government to excel academically.

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“You should study harder than anyone else, ask questions and open your minds to learning.

“You should not worry about fees or levies because everything has been provided by the government free.

“Government has installed modern security systems such as Close Circuit Television (CCTV) and whoever attempts to vandalise the equipment shall be treated as a saboteur,” he said.

The lawmaker representing Isiala Ngwa North constituency, in the Abia State House of Assembly, Mr Collins Iheonunekwu commended the governor for fulfilling his campaign promises through the project.

The state Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Goodluck Ubochi, expressed the government’s commitment to reshaping the state’s education sector.

“This is through sustained investments in smart schools and technology-driven learning,” he said.

The Executive Chairman of Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, Mrs Lydia Onuoha, said the schools were designed to prepare Abia children to become globally competitive in science, technology, engineering among other fields.