19th July, 2018
The Plateau Government has concluded plans to commence free lessons for children in nine Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state.
The camps were established following recent attacks in some communities in Jos South, Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Bokkos Local Government Areas, which displaced more than 12,000 persons and destroyed properties worth millions of naira.
Mr Jude Dakur, the state Commissioner for Secondary Education told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Thursday that the lessons would be on the basic subjects for primary and secondary school children.
“We do not want these children to be backward in their studies because of the attacks in their communities.
“The teachers would be volunteers from the camps and from other Non- Governmental Organisations who had visited the camps.
“We are already collating the number of teachers in the IDPs camps to engage them in free lessons. Writing materials and teaching materials would be provided to facilitate the exercise, “ he said.
The commissioner said that to improve the standard of education in the state, the ministry had distributed computers to 40 public secondary schools to facilitate internet access for research and other academic purposes.
He said that the state government was working toward distributing computers to over 300 secondary schools and to also renovate schools affected by windstorms and rain.
Dakur said that the state government had sent a formal report to the National Examinations Council (NECO), notifying them that the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) were disrupted in the communities affected by the recent attacks.
“Many candidates in the affected communities did not write all the subjects they registered for. We are hoping NECO would consider an alternative arrangement instead of the financial burden of registering again next year, “ he said
13 public schools in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area could not complete the conduct of the NECO examinations due to the attacks.