Ezekwesili promises to make teachers’ housing her priority attention as President

Oby Ezekwesili

Presidential candidate of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN),  Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has assured teachers that her administration  would accord priority attention to the issue of providing befitting  accommodation when she emerges President of Nigeria.

In a press statement by the spokesperson of Obiageli Ezekwesili  Presidential Campaign Organisation, Mr. Ozioma Ubabukoh, Ezekwesili was  quoted as wondering why it has been difficult for teachers to enjoy 

comfortable accommodation, regretting that poverty had also crippled the  standard of education in Nigeria.

The statement read, “No teacher in full-time employment should be unable  to live in comfortable accommodation, within reasonable distance of his  or her place of work. This initiative serves as a financial inducement  towards teachers becoming house owners.

“Housing for teachers tackles poverty, which currently plagues workers  in this field and discourages most from aspiring to be teachers.”

The ACPN presidential candidate also highlighted the need to reduce the  number of out-of-schoolchildren, stating that her administration would  reduce it by 20 per cent annually.

She said, “We will cut out-of-schoolchildren number down to 5.4 million  by 2023, build teacher efficacy and teacher expertise. Obiageli “Oby”  Ezekwesili, in her ten-month tenure as minister of education ensured a 

reduction of (500,000) out-of-schoolchildren. Using the Universal Basic  Education Commission’s incentivising funds to states once again as our  handle, our ACPN administration will seek to attain gender parity in 

education concurrently with our goal of reducing the number of OOSC.

“This approach will embed the diversity of girl-child education  initiatives within our obligation to Sustainable Development Goals4 on  ensuring universal access to qualitative education to all citizens.”

On education for special pupils attending public schools, the statement  added, “The knowledge that between 15-20 per cent of children who attend  public schools have one type of learning disability or another, which 

the poor segment of our country are seldom able to handle alone, will  compel our administration to reopen the Policy on Special Needs  Education, which was first comprehensively formalised during the tenure 

of Obiageli Ezekwesili as minister of education.”