By Francis Sadhere,  Warri

The proprietress of Chinkelly High School, Ekpan in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, Dr. (Mrs.) Veronica Ogbuagu has berated the Federal Government, parents and teachers for the low standard of education in the country.

Dr. (Mrs.) Veronica Ogbuagu (Rigth) with one of the Pupils of Chinkelly High school, Ekpan, Delta State during the Chidren’s Day Celebration.

Dr. Ogbuagu who who said this during the school’s Children/Cultural Day Celebration which was held at the school premises, called on the federal government to improve the standard of education by improving it’s present crop of teachers through seminars, workshops and total overhaul of the teacher education programmes.

She said, “Teacher education should be adequately planned as an integral part of National Development. Also I am  of the opinion that, the time is ripe for us to begin to address seriously the following ills in the education sector: academic fraud, academic malpractice, corruption and poor teacher. If we address all  these  now, then we can now say we have laid a good foundation for education.”

Pupils of Chinkelly High School, Ekpan doing their cultural dance.

Dr. Ogbuagu,  a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC)  in Delta State, added that the country’s education system, over the years, had been in the hands of inexperienced people who  destroyed the system, calling on government to stop talking and take action now.

She lamented that majority of the children have the misfortune of learning under unqualified and incompetent teachers which, according to her, had produced primary six pupils who cannot read and write.

Dr. Ogbuagu, who was also a former Delta State  Commissioner for education, urged parents and teachers to be careful of what they do and and say in the presence of the children because, according to her, children were great imitators, adding that they should strive to teach children “the virtues of honesty, obedience, truthfulness, cheerfulness, purity and charity.”

The pupils during a march past.

She therefore, advocated for a good partnership between parents and teachers, saying that it was an important element of a child’s educational experience which could help the child feel good about education.

She strongly condemned the incessant raping of children,  young girls and women in the country, saying that it was the duty of everybody to protect the girl child and women from all forms of physical and mental danger.

She said, “Offenders should be severely punished, and put behind bars. Parents and teachers must teach children about safe and unsafe touches by adults, family, friends and strangers. We must teach children to trust their instinct and speak up when something makes them uncomfortable.”

She also called on the government to ensure quick handling of cases of minors who are in different cells with criminals across the nation for committing one crime or the other with a view to sending them to juvenile homes with good programmes to rehabilitate them, adding that such children in most cases were from broken homes.

The Children Day celebration, which was colorful in nature, saw the pupils of Chinkelly High School performing various cultural dances, drama and recitation of poems to the admiration of their parents and teachers.