Daily Trust (Abuja)
Abubakar Sadiq Isah
7 July 2009
Abuja — The Principal of Federal Government Girls College (FGGC), Abaji, Mrs. Folashade A. Akintomide, last Saturday complained of power outage as the major constraints affecting the school.
Mrs. Akintomide, who stated this during the fifth graduation and prize- giving ceremony of the college, lamented that the college solely depends on generators, which she said gulps huge amount of money from the general service purse allocated by government.
"In my nine months as principal in the college, electricity from Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has not been supplied for one day and this has lead the college to solely depend on electricity supplied by generators, which gulps everything the government allocates for general services, not to talk of the frequent breakdown of the generator due to over-use," he said.
She also complained of lack of toilet facilities for staff and students, adding that lack of landscaping of the college hinders road access within the college, coupled with serious erosion.
The principal said it has been an uphill task for her to put in place measures to improve the general outlook of the college, especially in the areas of academic excellence, moral discipline and mentoring.
She commended that Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of the school for their assistance in improving on the academic standard of the students by paying part-time staff to lecture them, disclosing that the PTA also bought a photocopier for the college to assist in the production of question papers for exams.
Speaking at the occasion, Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, represented by Mrs. Suzan Onuoha, said government's commitment to give prominence to the education of the girl-child is exemplified in the distribution of nearly half of the Federal Unity Colleges to the girl-child.
"The government on its part, has continued to pursue vigorously, not only increasing access of the girl-child to education irrespective of their location and circumstances, but also the universal basic education to ensure unfettered access to basic education and improvement of quality of teaching and learning in schools," he said.
The minister said the most contributing factors to cases of high rate of girls drop out from schools are as a result of early pregnancy, debilitating diseases and poverty, saying HIV/AIDS is the most devastating pandemic that is prevalent among young people who form the nucleus of pupils in secondary schools.
In his remarks, the Ona of Abaji and chairman FCT council of chiefs, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa, commended the principal and management of the college for their efforts in maintaining quality standard of education through discipline, hard work and dedication.
He decried cases of cultism in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the country, adding that such anti-social activities have greatly destroyed the collective efforts for a united, strong and peaceful learning environment across the country.
Highlights of the occasion were the presentation of cash and prizes to the best students, teacher, cook and store keeper among others.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
