The Kogi State House of Assembly at its hallowed chamber in Lokoja, has commenced public hearing on the bill to establish Kogi State Senior Secondary Education Board (KSSSEB).
The Executive Secretary, National Senior Secondary Education Commission, Dr Iyela Ajayi, who was present at the public hearing to present a submission elaborating on the NSSEC Act 2023, commended the Kogi State Government and the House of Assembly for their high level of seriousness on the KSSSEB Bill.
Ajayi noted that the commencement of this democratic process was a clear demonstration of the state’s determination to domesticate the Senior Secondary Education Act, 2023.
This, he added, would regulate and provide the needed interventions for secondary education in the state.
The NSSSEC executive secretary further made 14 observations and recommendations on the proposed bill, passage of which he said, would lead to the overall development of senior secondary schools in Kogi State.
Commenting on the public hearing of the KSSSEB Bill, Alhaji Aliyu Yusuf, the Speaker, Kogi State House of Assembly, lauded the NSSEC executive secretary for being a good ambassador of the State.
Yusuf further stressed that his observations and recommendations had been noted by the lawmakers, and the assembly would do the needful to guard against conflict that may arise between the state Ministry of Education, Science and Technical Education Board, Teaching Service Commission and the proposed KSSSEB when the bill is finally passed into law.
In his remarks to the house, Mr Wemi Jones, Former Commissioner of Education, Kogi State, noted that domestication of the NSSEC Act 2023 was a welcome development that would further develop the senior secondary school sub-sector in Kogi State.
He added that the state government would continue to make efforts to reposition education to make the state a reference point in education in the North.
Also present at the public hearing were representatives of Kogi State chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) and the National Association of Proprietors of Private schools (NAPPS).
Other stakeholders at the occasion included the Association of Private School Owners (APSON), NECO, and Kogi State chapter of Teaching Services Commission (TESCO).