Nigeria, August 18, 2016 – The National Commission for Colleges of Education has commended the Bayelsa State Government for putting in place quality facilities to enhance teaching and learning at the Isaac Jasper Boro College of Education, Sagbama in Sagbama Local Council Area of the state.
The acting Director of NCCE, Mr Vitalis Uji, gave the commendation on Thursday, during a courtesy call on Governor Henry Seriaki Dickson in Yenagoa.
According to him, although the College has its share of teething problems, most of the facilities already on the ground; such as the Art Theatre, were of high standard that would stand the test of time.
He said, “We want to commend you for the effort you have made. That is a new site, but what we have seen there is really commendable. The Art Theatre we have seen in that Campus, I must say, we have never seen in any other place. Not even in Colleges of Education owned by the Federal Government. So, we want to commend you for that.”
Justifying the inspection tour, he said the provisional approval that enabled the College to take off was based on an earlier verification exercise carried out on available facilities at the former site of the institution at Okpoama in Brass Local Government Area, pointing out that, the Commission cannot transfer the approval on the basis of what it verified on that campus.
Uji, who promised to furnish the Governor of the full report of the tour, however, called on the state government to provide perimeter fencing, practical workshops, a standard library, clinic and adequate academic as well as non-teaching staff for the college.
In his response, Dickson assured the NCCE delegation of his administration’s commitment to completing most of the ongoing projects at the institution, before the next inspection visit in spite of shortfalls in revenues accruing to the state.
He said education occupies a pride of place in the agenda of the present administration, stressing that, the government was not only determined to making proper investments in the state-owned tertiary institutions, but reposition them to attract students and the best manpower from within and outside the state.
Dickson, who explained that, the Isaac Jasper Boro College of Education was relocated to Sagbama in the best interest of the state, especially in the area of easy accessibility, thanked the team for their objective assessment of the institution.
He said, “We take education very seriously and we are also very ambitious in terms of putting our state forward in that sector. But, as you are aware, just like what is happening at the Federal and most other states, we have a lot of funding constraints.
“But that has not stopped and will not stop us from being ambitious. We are aware that, that college and all other tertiary institutions need more capital injection. The commitment I make today, on behalf of the government is that, we are going to look for all ways of providing adequate funding for that College, at least to complete most of the ambitious projects we have already embarked upon. As the government intends the College one of the best in the country.”
