By Khalid Idris Doya
The vice president Senator Kashim Shettima on Saturday launched the Accelerated Senior Secondary School Education Programme (ASSEP) initiated by North-East Development Commission (NEDC) in collaboration with the office of vice president to reduce the number of post-primary dropouts due to the decline in secondary school enrollment in the subregion which stands at 15 percent, one of the lowest in the country.
The Managing Director/CEO of the Commission, Alh. Mohammed G. Alkali said the Stabilization and Development Master Plan (NERSDMP) developed by the North East Development Commission and its diverse partners consists of pillars that support human capital development in the subregion which caters for both human capital facilities (infrastructure, teaching/learning material, etc) is estimated to cost over N1 trillion.
Alkali made the remark at the launching of the Accelerated Senior Secondary School Education Programme (ASSEP performed in Bauchi Saturday by the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima.
The Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme (ASSEP) seeks to boost the post-primary education rating across the subregion through three major objectives – (i) improved enrolment into tertiary institutions (ii) skills development and (iii) elevation of teacher quality.
Alh. Mohammed Goni Alkali assured that the commission is poised to develop and support the children and youth of the Northeast subregion ast to grow, develop, and compete with the best across the world in various fields, excel and contribute to further development of the six states, subregion and country as a whole.
The Managing Director expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, especially the Vice President, for the deep interest and commitment to human development in the North-East, saying they would be counting on the continued support of state governments, federal government, as well as other partners.
Alkali disclosed that the Commission has also plowed other funds in Human Capital training and retraining programmes that can propel socio-economic development of the subregion, saying "This underscores the premium we place on building our people and their capacity to make concrete social and economic contribution.
"Therefore, the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme (ASSEP) we have gathered here to launch today is an intervention focused on addressing a particular challenge in our Region’s education system; it will provide effective support where the capacity of conventional schooling arrangements is limited for our teeming beneficiaries".
He attributed this to the challenges in the post-primary education segment, citing JAMB/UTME applications and admissions into tertiary institutions in 2019 where northeast students' performance was one of the poorest in the country.
He further noted that nationally, the North-East subregion has the lowest number of teachers and the highest percentage (55% of those available) are without literacy skills.
“As we embark on this critical mission today, we stand at a vital crossroad in our history that signifies our deep commitment to develop and support the children and youth of the North-East to grow, develop, compete with the best across the world in various fields, excel and contribute to further development of our states, region, country, continent and humanity in the years and decades to come.
“We are here today for a landmark event in the history of our Region, the North-East. As modest as this occasion may be, we recognize that it marks the beginning of an opportunity to uplift the lives and livelihoods of our people, and indeed, their socio-cultural and economic position in years and decades to come,” he noted.
He also said that the challenges in the post-primary education segment include weak quality indices (infrastructure, personnel and student disposition) and a wide demand/supply gap driven by economic and cultural factors.
Explaining further, he said that the quality and scale of post-primary education (sound secondary education and high completion rates) are major drivers of human capital development.
He also noted that ASSEP Key Delivery Pillar is to raise awareness about after-school possibilities and the potential for diligent students to become successful and prominent contributors to the North-East Region and Nigeria.
The Vice President Kashim Shettima has earlier launched the programme with a regret that post primary enrolment in the Northeast is 19 percent which is far below the national average of 39 percent.
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