FG directs parents to report refusal, denial of free books to UBEC, Ministry

By Favour Nnabugwu

Determined to ensure unhindered access to it free textbooks and instructional materials, the federal government has directed parents of pupils and students in public schools to report any denial or refusal of textbooks and instructional materials to Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC and the Ministry of Education.

Minister of state for education, Barr Nyesom Wike at flag off of the distribution of over 2.3million textbooks and over 67,000 instructional materials to primary and Junior secondary schools in the South West geo-political zone.

The delivery of the textbooks for the South West geo-political which comprise of Ondo, Oyo, Lagos, Ekiti and Osun states, was delivered to Ondo state government for onward distribution to other states in the zone.

Wike directed, “Parents whose children are not without those textbooks after today’s launch should not hesitate to demand for them from the heads of their schools and upon refusal, contact UBEC for appropriate action. “We are going to have special numbers in my office through which parents of children in public schools must let us know if their children have not been given the free textbooks”

”It is not just all about flagging off but more importantly about ensuring that the books get to the pupils. The Minister also warned that government would not condone any one found to be selling or hoarding those textbooks. I implore security agencies to arrest and person selling those books or hoarding them in strange places”

Minister of state for education who was  accompanied by the Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, Dr Ahmed Modibbo, said that government woud not take it lightly with the chains of distribution if the books failed to get to the pupils and students in the public schools of the zone.

He stated, “This year, not less than 14million copies of the primary education textbooks and about 5million library resource materials have been procured for distribution nationwide”.

”Out of this number, 2,306, 416 primary one and two textbooks in core subject areas of English Language, Mathematics, Social Studies, Basic Science and Technology and 67,260.00 assorted library resource materials for junior secondary schools have been delivered for distribution in the South West Geo-political zone. This is more than adequate to ensure a pupil per book ration of 1:1 for learners in the core subject areas”

Wike said, “We all know that without adequate access to textbooks and instructional materials, quality learning and teaching cannot take place in our basic schools. Pupils and students need those textbooks to access information, to do their homework and top study for tests and exams. Our teachers similarly need the textbooks as main source of delivering content knowledge to the learners”

Vanguard Nigeria