Aliyu calls for establishment of education bank

Niger State Governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has joined hordes that are calling for the establishment of an education bank, saying such a development would bolster the standard of education and give more impetus to educational infrastructures in the country. Governor Aliyu made the call in Minna, the state capital when he received the president and members of the National Association of Education Executive Secretaries, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House.

He said the bank, which has long been given legal backing by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, but the legal pronouncement never implemented will, when in place, contribute to the establishment of private schools and assist indigent students to get financial assistance to get educated up to any level they so wish.

According to Aliyu, the establishment of the education bank will to a large extent provide educational institutions, including state governments and proprietors of private schools with avenues to source for funds for the purchase of school equipment and sundry items.

He expressed dismay over the condition of infrastructures in most schools round the country, which he said were dilapidated as a result of lack of funds.

With the establishment of the bank, education, which has suffered on account of other contending issues, would receive a boost, the governor stated.

He, therefore, challenged the education secretaries to be more innovative and make monitoring of schools and teachers a priority as a way of improving the standard of education in the country.

“There must be a standard for the recruitment and discipline of teachers,” Aliyu counselled adding that the present situation where the 19 northern states could not boast 60 per cent qualified teachers on its payroll was not acceptable.

He further advised that to boost the morale of teachers and non-teaching staff, government should make the payment of their salaries and allowances top priority, insisting that allowing workers to remain several months without pay encourages corruption and indolence.

“If teachers and other workers are not paid promptly, it will affect the morale of the teachers and the entire school system.”

Earlier, the National President of the association, Dr Hassan Sule, had praised efforts of the Aliyu-led administration in the education sector saying that, “From facts available to us, you have transformed this sector in your state.”

Sule said because of the governor’s giant strides in the education sector over the last seven years, the association has slated him and four other governors for awards at a ceremony that would hold in Abuja, soon.