By Isaiah Eka
The Center for Human Rights and Accountability Network (CHRAN), has urged the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly to speedily pass the bill seeking to establish a university of education in the state.
The Director, Mr Franklyn Isong, made the call in a statement made available to newsmen in Uyo on Wednesday.
It would be recalled that the Akwa Ibom legislature, on Feb. 26, held a public hearing on a bill seeking to upgrade the state College of Education to a university.
The bill is titled: “A Bill for a Law to Provide for the Establishment of the Akwa Ibom State University of Education, Afaha Nsit”
Isong said that the speedy upgrade of the institution would forestall the drastic drop in the admission of students into its programmes.
He urged Akwa Ibom people and other stakeholders in the education sector to collaborate towards achieving the objectives of the bill.
“Many parents and guardians prefer a four-year university degree programme to a three-year National Certificate of Education programme offered by colleges of education.
“As a group, we advocated for this upgrade sometime in 2024. We are concerned because that institution has beeing losing its students enrolment to universities” he said.
The CHRAN director said that an independent study conducted by the group showed that students enrolment in the college of education had reduced drastically.
“We are aware that the college is empowered by law to award degrees, but it can only do so in affiliation with the University of Uyo.
“So there is need for this legislation to be expedited. Our finding further shows that the labour market no longer favours NCE graduates, something has to be really done,” he said. NAN
