Partnership that pays: FCT UBEB joyful as PTA assists school with N6m fence

By Mohammed S. Lawal

For long, government has declared that education should be a happy partnership between it and members of the public.

Apparently, the campaign is catching on as the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of Junior Secondary School (JSS), Mpape, completed the construction of a N6 million perimeter fence round the institution.

The project, which was started in 2014, has splashed the school with a new look. 

Obviously pleased top officials of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) led by the Chairman, Dr. Kabir Ibrahim Matazu, an alumnus of National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, gleefully converged on the school to give a pat on the back for some of those who have bought into government’s plea.

Commissioning the project, Dr. Matazu lauded the PTA for accomplishing such giant project.

The Chairman also approved the inclusion of landscaping, renovation of classrooms/offices, installation of electricity, painting and plastering of the fence into FCT-UBEB 2018 Action Plan, which will be executed in phases.

Not done with announcing goodies for the school, Dr. Matazu directed UBEB’s Head of Works Department, Mr. Amaechi Obiekwe, to ascertain what can be done to arrest the erosion menace threatening the institution.

Speaking earlier, before the commissioning, the PTA Chairman, Mr. Joseph Undie, said the project was the body’s contribution to partnering with government to uplift education in FCT as education was the responsibility of all stakeholders.

He pleaded with UBEB to assist in plastering and painting of the fence, installation of electricity, renovation of classrooms/offices, landscaping and control of erosion in the school compound.

Also speaking, Director of UBEB, Dr. Adamu Jatau Noma, who is equally an alumnus of NIPSS, applauded the efforts of the PTA, pointing out that the conclusion of the fence project came as a result of unity among members of the PTA.

Dr. Noma challenged other school PTAs to emulate what JSS Mpape PTA had done and assured the PTA Chairman that the board will not hesitate to bring the remarkable achievement to the knowledge of both FCT Education Secretary, Dr. Bala Liman, and Minister of FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello.

On her part, principal of JSS Mpape, Hajiya Sa’adatu Oromi Sani, appreciated the prompt response of the board despite short notice given to the top shots for the event and expressed her profound gratitude to all the PTA members for the ground-breaking feat.

She promised to continue to uplift high standards in the school, stressing that the fence would help bolster security within the school premises.