NNPC official slam Southeast states’ poor performance in national quiz competition

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday decried the poor performance of schools in the South-East in its zonal finals National Quiz Competition and tasked governments of the region on the need to raise their education standards.

NNPC Group General Manager, (Public Affairs), Garba Muhammad stated during the zonal final quiz competition held in Enugu that he was disappointed with the performance of students on the parade.

Represented by the Manager, Community Impact Investment of the corporation Doris Ohia, he urged the various state governments in the zone to return to the drawing board and improve the standard of education, especially, science education in their states.

He said: “I am not impressed with the performance I saw here. The students are very poor in English Language, Mathematics and Physics and I wonder how they will cope in the national finals.

“The various state ministries of education have a lot to do. They need to go back to the drawing board. Go home after this programme and intensify your efforts.”

Muhammad said that the NNPC had made interventions in education over the years as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Speaking, the Vice Principal, College of Immaculate Conception, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Christopher Agbo, attributed the poor performance of the students to the dearth of qualified teachers in the sector.

Agbo said that reading culture was in steady decline due to the erroneous belief that education was not rewarding.

“We do not have good science teachers in our secondary schools. State governments should get the best teachers back to our schools,” he said.

He commended the NNPC for the initiative which he said would encourage students to take their studies seriously.

Enugu State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze, said that the performance of the students was an eye-opener and required urgent attention.

Eze, who was represented by the Director of Science Education in the ministry, Mrs Margret Ayogu, however, urged the students not to be demoralised as they prepare for the national finals of the competition.

“We have seen their performance. We have assignments to do and it is my wish for us to scale through at the national level,” Eze said.

Anambra State took the first position with 55 points in the competition.

Imo State came second with 45 points, Ebonyi State came third with 40 points, Enugu State came fourth with 35 points while Abia State came last with 10 points.

The first three states will represent the zone at the national finals in August.