Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said the nation can only attain development when the citizens are empowered with the right knowledge and appropriate skills to contribute to national growth.
Declaring open the 64th meeting of the National Council on Education (NCE) in Port Harcourt yesterday, Wike said educational empowerment would equip the citizens to sustain themselves.
He said: “The reality is that no country can be politically stable, economically robust and socially secure and cohesive, if the citizens are not empowered with knowledge, appropriate skills and the right values to sustain themselves and contribute meaningfully to the progress of the country.”
Wike called for the promotion of inclusive and equitable quality education to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.
He said: “Agenda 2030 is a call to action on our collective commitments to transformative education by addressing all forms of exclusion, disparities and inequities and ensuring that every child, irrespective of social background, cultural affiliation, location and family or income status is not left behind but has equal and equitable access to quality and transformative public education.
“This requires providing the enabling legal framework, adopting the right policies and programme of action, deploying adequate resources and manpower, including qualified teachers in addition to a strong political will from the government at all levels.”