From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

The Bayelsa State Government has charged its ministry of education to do more in regulating the activities of both public and private schools in the state to achieve set objectives in the sector.

The Deputy Governor, Sen. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo gave the charge while granting audience to the state chapter of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) at his office in Government House, Yenagoa.

Emphasizing the need for effective supervision of schools, Ewhrudjakpo said the government would come down hard on officials in the Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies who fail to effectively carry out their supervisory responsibility in schools.

He lamented that over 80 percent of private schools operating in the state did not meet the minimum required standards stipulated in the guidelines for registration of private schools due to poor regulation by relevant MDAs.

The Deputy Governor, called on the leadership of NAPPS to carry out a thorough self-examination to ensure that their members complied with the guidelines and provided quality education in their various schools.

His words: “I am happy you have stretched out your hand to the government, especially the Ministry of Education, to see how our private schools could be properly regulated. As it is now, with due respect to all of us, both the Ministry and yourself, there is no regulation of the private schools in Bayelsa State.

“The numbers of private schools that are not supposed to exist in the state are more than those that are supposed to exist. That you know very well.

“The other day I went to the health centre at Amarata and there was a private school there that was not more than this room where we are. It was not only a death trap but the environment was not conducive for anybody to learn. And you have all of them over the place.

“This is happening because those who are responsible for supervision or regulation of schools in our ministry of education and SUBEB are not doing what they are supposed to do effectively. But I can assure you, that will stop soon.

“You must also do your part because what you are giving at the primary and secondary levels, which is your turf, is important. So, you really have to brace up, work with the Ministry of Education to ensure total compliance with the required standards.

Earlier in his remarks, the State Chairman of NAPPS, Barrister Marshal Abraham, said the association was committed to promoting quality educational services in collaboration with relevant government agencies and individuals in the state.

While reaffirming the Association’s support for the educational policies of present administration in the state, the state NAPPS chairman, called for government’s support for its statewide Spelling Bee Competition among private and public schools in the state.

In another development, the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has urged the Bayelsa Federated Newspaper Publishers Association (BAFENPA) to change the narrative of the state in the print media.

He made the call during a courtesy call by the association in his office in Government House.

Senator Ewhrudjakpo noted that a lot of good things are happening in Bayelsa State but which were not adequately reported or glamorized in the mainstream media.

The Deputy Governor, while empathizing with the indigenous publishers, noted that the patronage for printed newspapers had significantly nosedived.

According to him, for the publishers to remain in business they had to change their modus operandi by embracing online publishing as complete dependence on the sale of hardcopies will not enable them to break even let alone make profit.

He thanked the publishers for their support, and participation in the recent All Nigeria Guild of Editors Conference (ANEC) held in Yenagoa, which he noted would positively market the state to the world.

The Bayelsa Number Two man, on behalf of the State Government, seized the opportunity to also commiserate with the BAFENPA team over the death of one of their colleagues, Major Debekeme, this year.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of BAFENPA, Chief Jones Abiri, underscored the prohibitive cost of publishing and appealed to the government to come to their aid by providing them soft loans to regularly publish their newspapers and remain in business.

Chief Abiri, who applauded the infrastructural strides of the Governor Diri-led Administration, however, solicited the State Government’s assistance in the upcoming burial of the late Major Debekeme, who until his demise was a member of the Bayelsa Federated Newspaper Publishers Association (BAFENPA).