In order to improve teaching and learning in schools, an indigenous oil and gas company, Engineering Automation Technology (EATECH), has teamed up with Akwa Ibom State.
Dr. Emmanuel Okon, managing director and chief executive officer, gave a speech as he turned over the renovated and outfitted Biology and Chemistry lab block at St. Mary’s Senior Science College in Ediene-Abak, Abak Local Government.
Okon claimed that the investment was a component of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and that he had visited the two laboratories, where he had discovered that they were rundown and vacant.
He bemoaned the deterioration of crucial school facilities and urged the government to work with the private sector to improve the infrastructure and staffing levels in schools.
The chief executive officer decried the situation where science pupils have to be shuffled through schools without requisite laboratories for practicals.
“This intervention in modern laboratories cost us about N35 million and it is part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in closing infrastructure gap in this school and creating the right teaching and learning environment for teachers and pupils,” he said.
Okon urged the headteacher and pupils to make good use of the facilities and ensure their proper maintenance.
Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Idongesit Etiebet, thanked the company, and asked the teachers to make good use of the laboratories.
The commissioner asserted that the government shouldn’t be the exclusive source of funding for educational institutions in her capacity as State Education Assurance Service director.
She praised EATECH and urged other private companies and alumni associations to help improve school amenities.
“Akwa Ibom State is ready to partner the private sector in improving quality of its education. We are open, welcoming to anyone who wants to assist us so those who attend public schools are not seen to be disadvantaged,” she said.
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