Stakeholders in the education sector in Owerri zone, including proprietors and Heads of schools, teachers and parents, have commended Distinguished Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi, representing the Senatorial zone for his empowerment and skill acquisition program which they described as unprecedented in the annals of representation.
Speaking in Owerri recently, they noted that the training of teachers on new techniques for teaching and learning, and empowerment of schools with modern equipments would change the teaching and learning environment in the zone, as teachers would now teach with new skills and tools, thereby making learning interesting and attractive for students.
The Proprietor of Susan Chris Model Schools, Owerri, Pastor Ambassador Chris Ineh whose school benefitted from the program, described it as a rare and exceptional game changer.
He noted that it was a game changer because such has never happened in the annals of Owerri Zone education system before, particularly for private schools, which he said had hitherto been discriminated against when it comes to enjoying dividends of democracy from government and elected officials.
He noted that it was the first time schools in Owerri zone would receive such essential technological tools that they have battled for several years to buy without success, adding that since Distinguished Senator Onyewuchi has helped him get them free of charge, he would now channel the millions he budgeted for them, to other pressing needs.
Pastor Ineh explained that with the new lease of life given them the teaching and learning landscape in the state would automatically change for the better, given that the new skills and tools would not only increase the vigour and confidence level of teachers, but also make learning more attractive and interesting for students.
The ex chairman of the National Association of Private Schools, NAPS, Imo State and immediate past NAPS National Council Member, listed the tools the schools received from the lawmaker to include, a Projector, Samsung Tablet, Chat board, Smart board, Interactive Board, Graph Board, Flip Board and Laptop, expressing gratitude to him, for carrying out an authentic empowerment and donating brand new equipments to schools, as well as promising to install them for them.
Also speaking, Okechukwu Nzewuike, a teacher trainee from Ngor Okpala High School, Ngor Okpala, described the lawmaker’s gesture as the first of its kind in the zone, stressing that it marked the very first time that he witnessed and participated in such program, after over ten years of being in the teaching profession.
According to him, training and retraining, especially in this computer age remain critical steps to improving the teaching and learning environment, hence the necessity of applauding Distinguished Senator Onyewuchi for chosing to prioritize them, even as he called on other elected leaders to emulate his progressive and developmental style of governance.
Nzewuike noted that the exercise would cause massive improvement in quality teaching delivery, as the trainees would only apply the new skills and tools alone, but also train other teachers in their respective schools.
He commended the selection process which he said was open, transparent and devoid of politics, noting that it was because of that policy, that trainees like him with zero political affiliations, were able to benefit from it.
In her contribution, Chief Stella Orji, Vice Principal Academics, Federal Government Girls College Owerri, re echoed the sentiments of her colleagues, stating that her school was benefitting for the first time from such empowerment.
She stressed that the effort would deepen and strengthen teaching and learning in the zone, because apart from training teachers who didn’t participate in the training, the trainees would go back to their duty posts with new skills and ideas which would enhance service delivery, and make students more receptive and retentive.
Recall that the senator representing Imo East Senatorial District, Owerri Zone, in the Senate, recently trained over seventy teachers selected from private and public schools in the zone, on how to use new technologies in teaching and learning, and empowered them Samsung Tablet, while donating Projectors Laptops, Interactive, Graph, Chat and Smart Boards to their schools.
