Edo Governor Godwin Obaseki has declared schools in the state will remain closed until February 1 as the state grapples with the second wave of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
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Adeyinka Adedipe, Benin
The Chairman of the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Joan Oviawe, on Thursday, stated that the state primary school teachers are among the best treated in terms of training and remuneration in the country.
In an online interactive session with journalists in Benin, she explained that the teachers’ take-home pay was more than that of the average civil servants in the state.
Oviawe, while fielding questions from journalists on the planned strike by primary school teachers in the state, said Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration is the most teacher-friendly government in the country.
Obaseki
Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo has said that schools in the state will remain closed until Feb. 1, as the state grapples with the second wave of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Obaseki stated this at a news conference on Friday in Benin, as most states across the federation gear up to reopen schools on Jan. 18.
”We have decided that schools will not reopen for now; this situation will be reviewed by Feb. 1.
”We will like our own schools to reopen on Feb. 1, depending on the situation at that point in time. x
“Between now and that time, we will be going round to make sure that these schools have running water.
As part of the renewed drive to consolidate on reforms in the basic education sector, the Edo State Government will ramp up community engagement and extra-curricular activities in public schools across the state in 2021.
Addressing journalists in Benin City, the Executive Chairman, Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Joan Osa Oviawe, said the state government plans to improve literacy and numeracy skills among pupils in public schools.
She said: “For 2021, we are setting a target for illiteracy and numeracy. Recently, we were fortunate to be selected among the four other countries who were adjudged to be accelerator countries. We were the only state selected. It was a World Bank and Bill Gates Foundation initiative. As an accelerator country, we have been identified as one of the four places in Africa where we are trying to eradicate learning poverty.