In a bid to improve the standard of education and increase the enrollment of students in schools in the North East region, the North East Development Commission has deployed 30 mobile science laboratories to schools for practicals.
Speaking on Monday in Yola during an assessment tour of the commission with students and teachers, the Managing Director Alhaji Mohammed Goni, said that the mobile laboratories, the scholarship and other packages designed by the commission was to boost the quality of education and encourage students and teachers to perform better.
He said that the Federal Government of Nigeria designed the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme to drive rapid education improvements in the Northeast region.
“ASSEP leverages key resources like skilled personnel, funding, and technology while addressing regional challenges to drive impactful educational outcomes in Northeast Nigeria.”
The managing director who was represented by NEDC general manager Hajia Sadatu Shehu Ahmed noted that the ASSEP initiative aims at improving student learning, foster healthy competition, and promote excellence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects.
He pointed out that science brings about industrialisation of countries, and that Nigeria can not afford to be left behind.
Goni insisted, “the ASSEP intervention project is an initiative, being sponsored by the North East Development Commission (NEDC) towards transforming educational development and inject innovative approaches, with focus on science, technology, mathematics and agriculture (STEMA) towards driving future development and human empowerment in Nigeria’s North East region.
“ASSEP, anchored by NEDC, focuses on subjects related to science, technology, mathematics, and agricultural (STEMA) courses.”
He explained that the programme is targeted at senior secondary school students across the six states of the Northeast: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe.
“During ASSEP’s launch in Bauchi in May 2024, Vice President Kashim Shettima urged the North-East state governors to leverage the program to bridge educational gaps and improve learning outcomes in the region” Goni stated.
“This intervention aligns with global best practices for building intellectual and economic capacity,” he posited.
During the session, both the teachers and students commended NEDC for the programme, noting that the scheme has enhanced their learning and teaching methods.