The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has called on the government at all levels to place improved attention on the management of the country’s education sector.
Atiku described as unacceptable, the non-payment of teachers’ salaries for months by some state governments, saying it was counterproductive for the country’s development initiatives.
He said it was regrettable that education is not getting the proper attention it deserves from all stakeholders in the country.
The former Vice President said this in commemoration of the 2022 World Teachers’ Day on Wednesday.
Atiku, who spoke during the commissioning of the Security Health and Education (S.H.E) Initiative office in Abuja, said the poor management of the education sector, which is manifested in poor remuneration of teachers and the attendant consequence of prolonged industrial strike action by teachers, cannot engender the kind of progress and development the country desires.
The S.H.E Initiative is the brainchild of Atiku’s wife, Titi Amina Abubakar.
The PDP presidential candidate said: “With the increasing expansion of the poverty line across all age demographics, the smartest direction to go is to invest in education. When people are educated, it becomes a lot easier for them to create wealth and make personal decisions that will promote a good lifestyle for their families and society.
“The current practice whereby education takes the last rung of our investment priorities is not only self-sabotaging, it is indeed a threat to national security.
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“Most of the challenges that face us today in the name of security issues are concerns that started from illiteracy and later grew to economic disempowerment, which soon grew into national security concerns.
“Notwithstanding the poor working conditions of teachers in many states, they have continued to contribute their quota to nation building.
“No nation can grow higher than the quality of its education system and no education system can grow higher than the quality of its teachers,” he stated.
Atiku added that progress and development may continue to elude the country “unless and until we have trained and well-motivated teachers”.
The former Vice President, however, expressed commitment to addressing the plight of teachers and the entire education sector in collaboration with the state governments if elected as president in the 2023 presidential election.
Also speaking at the event, the wife of the former Vice President said the S.H.E Initiative was borne out of a genuine concern to reverse the trend of the ugly socio-economic realities in Nigeria “that has pushed many people, especially women to the receiving end of economic hardship.”
“Through the vehicle of the S.H.E Initiative, Nigerian women will be setting the agenda to reverse the spiral decline in their socio-economic lives, as well as that of youth and people living with disabilities,” she said.
Abubakar urged Nigerians to join in her campaign in driving home the objectives of the initiative.
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