Uchino Amatey
The Cross River State Government through the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has kicked-off a state-wide training programme for teachers on Literacy enhancement with the theme” Overcoming the Challenge of reading & writing in Primary School”.
The training which kicked off today, Monday 25th June, 2018 with teachers from the southern senatorial zone held at West African People’s Institute (WAPI), Calabar.
Declaring the event open, the Executive Chairman SUBEB, Dr Stephen Odey stated that the workshop was necessary to sharpen their skills on teaching methodology towards increased ability of pupils to read and write effectively, which he said has been a mirage over the years.
“A visit to most of our public primary schools will reveal that most pupils in primary three and above are still unable to read and write. This is a direct contrast to what is obtainable in the private nursery and primary schools, and it is a worrying challenge that needs to be tackled frontally,” he said.
He said due to this challenge in the educational system, the present administration under the leadership of Prof. Ben Ayade is determined to make a conscious effort to eliminate this defect in the system, hence the need for this training which is part of government’s strategy at addressing the existing trend.
While stating that the ability to read and write is the gateway to proper knowledge acquisition and retention, Dr Odey said the essence of the workshop cannot be achieved if teachers do not re-order their attitude to duty.
According to him teachers must understand that it is their responsibility to ensure that pupils know how to read and write no matter the prevailing circumstance.
“We have an explicit road map in this administration that at the close of the first tenure all our primary school pupils in primary three and above should read fluently and write legibly. It is incumbent on you to adopt every available strategy to achieve this laudable goal,” He emphasized.
In his opening remark, the Director of Administration SUBEB, Emmanuel Ojong said the teachers who have been selected to participate in this maiden edition of the workshop would form the resource base for cascading this training to other teachers in their respective schools until the over 13,000 population of teachers benefit from the exercise.
He therefore urged participants to maximally internalize the rich content of materials given to them to enable them acquire the ‘Trainer status’ at the end of this intensive course.
Also speaking the Principal Consultant, Micro Adyears International, Wusen Isong commended the State government and the Board Chairman for putting up this training which he said will arm teachers with the necessary skills to ensure effective teaching and learning.
The exercise will continue on Thursday 28th-Friday 29th in Ikom LGA for central senatorial zone, while northern senatorial zone will hold in Ogoja LGA on Monday 2nd –Tuesday 3rd July, 2018.
