Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State

Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has disclosed that the state government has earmarked N100 million as grant for Akwa Ibom Polytechnic to begin the process of securing full accreditation for its courses.

Governor Emmanuel, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Essien Uduese, stated this at the sixth convocation of the polytechnic held at its Ikot Osurua campus in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state.

The governor charged the polytechnic authorities to incorporate entrepreneurial development in the institution’s curriculum to facilitate economic advancement in the country stressing the need for the institution to ensure quality content and capacity building in all its programmes.

According to him, “The rejigging of the curriculum will enable students of the institution to become job creators after graduation rather than job seekers. Every single aspect of our development in education should look at entrepreneurship because that is where the next line of action for economic development of any developing country lies”.

The governor said that there was need for a paradigm shift away from the design of African method of education, where people were trained to come out and search for white-collar jobs.

Assuring that his administration would continue to invest in education in order to prepare the Akwa Ibom child for the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century he said that the state government was planning an education summit that would help to reshape the sector.

In an address, the Acting Rector of the polytechnic, Dr. Moses Umobong, said that the institution was vigorously pursuing its mandate in training and research in the Applied Sciences, Technology and other fields to meet the manpower needs of the nation.

Umobong said that the polytechnic authorities had resolved to sustain the prevailing peace in the institution, eliminate divisiveness and rancour and also preserve the enviable status earned over the years.
NAN