Bayelsa Govt Signs 2 Bills into Law to Strenghten Education, Boost Agriculture

As part of efforts geared towards revamping the educational and agricultural sectors, which are critical to the growth of the Bayelsa State economy, Governor Seriake Dickson has signed two bills into law.

They are the Bayelsa State College of Agriculture Technology and Bayelsa State Directorate for Education Inspection and Policy Services Laws, bringing the total number of bills signed into law by the Governor to 45.

Assenting to the bills presented by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Konbowei Benson during the 45th session of the State Executive Council meeting in Government House, Yenagoa, Governor Dickson said, the establishment of the new Directorate for Education was primarily to provide inspectorate services on policies, programmes and ongoing projects.

According to the Governor, Government will provide adequate support to enable the directorate embark on scheduled and unscheduled visits to both primary and secondary schools to monitor among other things, pupils and teachers welfare and notify Government on the challenges in the education system.

His words: “They are bills that are adding value to the educational sector. On the Inspectorate Bill, what we discovered was that, there was no systematic procedure; there was no institution charged directly with the responsibility of supervising and ensuring that, Government’s policies and programmes in that very critical sector are properly implemented and appropriate reports made.

“In view of the importance this government places on education, we thought that, we should establish a directorate, not just as a department in the ministry of education as it has always been, but as an independent department established by law with a mandate to carry out an inspectorate services in all the schools to report on all the projects and also to report on the implementation of our educational policies.

“We are back to those good old days, when inspectors will come into your school with little or no notice at all, to see things for themselves.

Commenting on the law establishing the College of Agriculture Technology, he reaffirmed government’s resolve to diversify the state’s economy from oil and gas to that of an agricultural driven one.

Consequently, Governor Dickson expressed determination to collaborate with its partners as well as tap from the available manpower resources in the state towards producing qualified manpower to take charge of the college and train the youths to be actively involved in agriculture.

“What we are doing actually, is to institutionalize the policies and programmes that our government have been unfolding and that is what we have just done.”

He also commended members of the House of Assembly for their cooperation and dedication to their statutory duties, describing their achievements as extraordinary.

In his remarks, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Konbowei Benson said each of the 2 bills were separately presented to the Assembly on the 6th of November 2013 and July 3rd 2014, adding that the establishment of the directorate for education was timely as schools get set for the next academic session.