The Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has again urged tertiary institutions to be deliberate about achieving high standards in discharging their primary mandate of imparting knowledge and character building in society.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo made the call when he granted audience to the Governing Council of the Bayelsa State College of Health Technology, Otuogidi, during a courtesy visit by the Management to his office in Government House, Yenagoa.
He noted that “much work is needed in the educational system” to restore lost standards and reposition the tertiary institutions to enable them produce quality graduates both in learning and character.
Emphasizing the need for colleges of health and nursing schools to fulfill their statutory mandate of producing qualified middle-level manpower for the primary healthcare sector, the Deputy Governor lamented that the institutions had allowed the high standards they were known for in the past to go down.
The Bayelsa Number Two Man, therefore, called on the management of the College of Health Technology, Otuogidi, to step up efforts on the issue of restoring and maintaining enviable standards to avoid churning out products that would dent their own image as managers of the institution.
Responding to some of their requests, the Deputy Governor assured them that he would convey their demands to the Governor for necessary action when he returns from his official trip.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, called on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to complement government’s infrastructural efforts in the state by completing its abandoned projects at the institution.
On the issue of encroachment into the College premises, he assured the Management that government would take immediate measures to address it.
His words: “The College of Health is designed to train qualified manpower, with skill sets which must suit our peculiar environment.
“Standards were quite high, but it is no longer so. The problem with our institutions, today, is that we are now interested in quantity and not quality. But you must not forget that the graduates you produce, deal with life.
“And so, there is so much work to be done. We must rejig and reinvent the lost standards in our tertiary institutions.
“If our school products have bad character, then it is a reflection of the school system that they had passed through.
“Concerning your demands, I will draw the attention of the Governor when he is back in the state. But I can assure you that government will take immediate action to address the encroachment issue you also raised as part of your demands.”
Earlier in her address, the Chairman, Governing Council of the Bayelsa State College of Health Technology, Otuogidi, Mrs Victoria Denenu, said there was a huge infrastructural gap in the college such as inadequate hostels, classroom blocks, staff quarters as well as lack of auditorium and perimeter fencing.
Mrs Denenu, informed that five of the College’s programmes were due for re-accreditation by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) this year, and appealed to the state government for funding support.
She equally requested Governor Douye Diri to give his assent for the confirmation of a substantive Provost of the College, adding that three nominations had already been sent to him for approval.
