Ovation for Soludo – the education governor

IZUCHUKWU ADICHIE

Before Soludo’s arrival as governor of Anambra State, the education sector in the state lacked clear, documented policies, raising concerns for Soludo. To address this issue, he established the Anambra Educational Advisory Council, which was tasked with developing new pathways to deliver quality education and improve learning outcomes for students in the Anambra school system.

Soludo’s government has made significant progress in the education sector, becoming the first Nigerian governor to hire 5,000 teachers and another 3,000 teachers in the first nine months of his term, ending teacherless public schools and guarantee quality education. Furthermore, Soludo viewed education as a fundamental right of every child born in Anambra, regardless of religion, ethnicity and race.

Under Soludo, compulsory free education was declared for government-owned and managed primary and secondary schools, along with a uniform payment of N5,000 for secondary school students. This policy put an end to arbitrary levies and placed the state at the bottom in the rankings of out-of-school children. The policy abolished not only school fees, but also all kinds of levies imposed and collected on schools. As a result, an additional 83,814 pupils and 62,148 students were enrolled in public schools.

The Soludo government has transformed the public school system from one characterized by neglect and decay to one full of hope, improved access, infrastructure development and improved service delivery. His ingenuity brought back the lost glory of public schools, which proudly produced icons of global reputation as well as thought leaders with an impact that has remained indelible for centuries.

Another path-breaking achievement of Soludo’s administration is that he is the first Anambra Governor to allocate N20 billion to the education sector in the 2024 financial year, marking a 140.88% increase in the budgetary allocation. However, Soludo has approved the upgrade of 60 schools to smart schools. With the settlement of a four-year UBE funding arrears to Universal Basic Education, the settlement will result in billions of Naira grants from UBEC to ASUBEB, enabling the rehabilitation and upgrading of primary schools in the state. The government also trained and retrained teachers, shared 2,000 laptops and increased teachers’ salaries by 10% in the first nine months of their tenure. This underlines the government’s unparalleled commitment to education in the state and the standing ovation for Soludo.