By Saleh Bature
Wednesday, August 14th, 2024, was a milestone in the history of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC). This was the day the commission brought stakeholders from across the country to Abuja’s Barcelona International Hotel to brainstorm and find solutions to the challenges facing the Senior Secondary Education in the country.
The demand for attention for Senior Secondary Education is increasingly becoming popular because of the pivotal role it plays as the stage that bridges foundational learning and higher education, as well as equip learners with necessary skills and knowledge to compete with their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Inarguably, no serious people will joke with their Senior Secondary Education, their cash cow and the goose that lays the golden egg for their nation.
The theme of the event, titled “Revitalizing Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria for global competitiveness,” was apposite. The theme aptly captures the mood of the nation and it also rhymes with the mission of the commission. The forum, said Dr. Iyela, the Executive Secretary of the commission “represents a critical milestone in our ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of education for our young minds.”
The Executive Secretary, who was visibly disturbed by the plethora of decrepit infrastructure and unqualified teaching staff in Secondary schools, among many other daunting challenges bedeviling the sector, advised the stakeholders to be ready to hold the bulb by the horn, promising that government will do everything humanely possible to collaborate with them to chart a new course for Senior Secondary Education Sub-sector in the country.
With the establishment of the National Senior Secondary education Commission, the ES said, parents should breathe a sigh of relief, reassuring them that it will now be no longer business as usual, as NSSEC is in concert with relevant stakeholders in the sector to address the inherent plight in the sector.
One of the highlights of the occasion was the announcement of recruitment of 3,500 teachers for Federal Government Unity Colleges by the Minister of state for Education, Dr. Tanko Sununu. Sununu assured the stakeholders that the Ministry is currently collaborating with the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), and other relevant government organs to effect the recruitment. In the same vein, the Minister said, “the ministry had trained over 1,000 workers in the application of technology to education through its research resource center, in addition to the building of more than 53 vocational centers across the country.
Also speaking at the occasion, Honourable Tajudeen Abbas, the speaker of the House of Representatives, represented by the Chairman House Committee on Basic and Secondary Education and Services, Dr Mark Boko Useni, blamed lack of quality teachers, funding, and inadequate infrastructure, among others, as the major challenges faced by the sector. He assured the stakeholders that the National Assembly will support NSSEC through far-reaching legislation to overcome those challenges.
The opening ceremony of the event rounded off with a presentation of publications which the commission produced and launched to ” provide structured strategic guidance for the revitalisation of senior Secondary Education”, in Nigeria, Dr. Iyela told the gathering. The books are: the National Policy on Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria and its Implementation Guidelines; the Manual for Monitoring and Evaluation of Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria; National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) Strategic Plan (2024-2027; and the Training Manuals for Teachers of English Language and Mathematics in Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria.
The author, of Limpopo Street, Maitama, Abuja is reachable via baturesuba@yahoo.co.uk
