FG begins rehabilitation of 104 unity schools ….. As 75, 635 write entrance exams

The Federal Government has begun the renovation and
rehabilitation of 104 unity colleges in the country, Minister of
Education, Adamu Adamu, has said.

He said the rehabilitation exercise include replacement of
broken toilets, ceilings, creation of additional classrooms and the
renovation of existing ones.

The minister said the renovation, directed by President
Muhammadu Buhari, is aimed at expanding access to education in the
country.

He stated this during the monitoring of 2019 common entrance
examination organised by the National Examination Council, in
Abuja, on Saturday.

The minister said about 25, 000 students would be given
admission into the colleges nationwide.

Adamu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the
ministry, Sonny Echono, disclosed that the government had already
begun recruitment of teachers to carter for the new intake next
term.

He said: “We have a challenge of access to education in this
country, as part of our interventions to ensure that we bring more
children into the school system and reduce the number of kids who
are out-of-school, we are having so many programmes. One of it is
to increase the spaces available in our unity colleges.

“You are aware that each time we do this there are other
consequential interventions that are needed. You need to have
additional classrooms; you need to have additional teachers.

“We are pleased that Mr. President graciously approved that we
should begin to rehabilitate many of these unity colleges. Besides
the security infrastructure, we are now providing both new
classrooms and as well as rehabilitating the dilapidated ones and
we are also dealing with the libraries, laboratories and so on.

Read Also: Fear grips Ondo Community over ritual killings
“We are recruiting additional teachers for the unity schools as we
speak. Both the regularisation of PTA teachers and new recruitment
are ongoing at the Federal Civil Service Commission as we speak and
they will come in early enough for them to be inducted, trained,
given some kind of preparation ahead of the opening of the schools
next term.”

He said the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has already
approved four interventions in some unity schools in Abuja.

The minister explained that the intervention is to rehabilitate
broken toilets, ceilings and classrooms to compliment what the
ministry of education is doing.

“We hope that in the next few years, all those schools will be
returned to their glory days,” he added.

NECO’s Acting Registrar, Abubakar Gana, said 75, 635 candidates
sat for the examination on Saturday in 457 centres nationwide,
including one centre in Port Novo, Benin Republic.

Gana said that the results of the examination will be released
on Wednesday by the agency through the ministry of education.

He urged parents to check NECO’s website for the released
results.

Lagos state had the highest number of registered candidates with
23, 459 while Zamfara had the lowest with 59 candidates.

“The results are expected to be released by NECO to the Federal
Ministry of Education on Wednesday 1st May 2019 after which the
ministry would direct NECO to release it to the public after the
selection exercise.

“Candidates are to check the status of their admission both at
the various Federal Unity Colleges and online via NECO website:
www.neco.gov.ng as soon as the release of the results is
announced,” the ministry added in a statement.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!