Speaking, Friday, at Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School, Port Harcourt, at the official induction of 60 shining stars from hard-to-reach communities from Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states into four in the top brass of ivy secondary schools in Nigeria, General Manager, External Relations, SPDC, Igo Weli, explained that the scheme, which was launched in 2010, was “designed to bridge educational inequalities resulting from geographic and socio-economic differences as well as help enhance high literacy levels in the Niger Delta and Nigeria in general.
“This endeavour contributes towards the actualization of the UNESCO ‘Education for All’ goal”, Weli said, adding that, “Our belief is that the scheme will also help develop a sound human resource base for Nigeria’s development.”
Now in its seventh edition, with significant successes recorded already in their school certificate and unified tertiary matriculation examinations, as well as United Nations recognition, the general manager noted that the first set of 60 beneficiaries completed their secondary education this year, and urged the fresh intakes to fly the Cradle-To-Career flag even higher.
In their remarks, representatives of the three states’ commissioners for education, commended SPDC for standing firm in its support for quality education in the region despite the hard economic environment, and charged all the beneficiary students to work hard to justify the huge social investment in their future, just as they challenged parents of the students to play more significant role by seamlessly inculcating sound moral values and encourage their children to be good ambassadors of their families, communities and states.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Education, Dr Patricia Wudhiga Ogbonnaya; Director, Basic Education, Bayelsa State Ministry of Education, Dr Elizabeth Alagoa; and the Director, Basic Education, Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Moses Onoriode Bragiwa, who represented their various states, also tasked SPDC to continue to explore ways of increasing support for the state governments’ education policies to succeed, as according to them, government alone cannot provide all it takes to guarantee excellence in the education sector.
Also speaking, representative of the British Council, Chinedum Adeboye, praised the SPDC’s choice of the schools for implementation of the scholarship programme in view of their affiliations with some of the best educational institutions abroad, and challenged the beneficiaries to take full advantage of the opportunity to reshape and make their future brighter, restating the readiness of the council to help cascade their rise to stardom.
In their separate speeches, Proprietress, Archdeacon Brown Education Centre, Dr Christie Toby; Administrator, Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School, Pastor Ifeoma Edith Chukwuogo; Registrar, Brookstone Secondary School, Mrs Bie Oputu; and Principal, Bloombreed High School, Mrs Bola Fajemisin, all in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, thanked SPDC for the choice of the schools to help meet of goals of the scheme, and pledged their determination to give all-round quality education to the students, irrespective of their backgrounds.
The event witnessed testimonies by three beneficiaries of SPDC scholarship schemes: Isaiah Inaibo and Agunwa Glory Oluomachi (2010 Cradle-To-Career), and Ala Atedoghu (Undergraduate); presentation of excellence awards to 16 best performing students of subsisting Cradle-To-Career scholarships, and various performances by beneficiaries of the scheme.
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