The site provided to the federal government for the construction of a Federal College of Education in Ofoeme has been officially designated as a Federal College of Education by Governor Alex Otti of Abia State.
In addition, the Governor established a four-person committee led by Professor Kenneth Kalu, the Secretary to the Abia State government, during the Tuesday land-handover ceremony at Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South. The committee’s goal is to guarantee that the Federal Government’s proposed September 2024 deadline for the institution’s launch is met.
At the function, Otti stated that although the state government currently operates a College of Education, which his administration is fervently attempting to restore from the ashes of neglect, one college of education is insufficient to educate the necessary number of teachers for his state.
“We do have a College of Education here that has been abandoned over the years. We are working very hard to retrieve it – the state College of Education in Arochukwu. But, we strongly believe that one College of Education is not enough to train the kind of teachers and the numbers that we require”.
Governor Otti made hints that his administration is thinking about raising the retirement age for teachers from 60 to 65 years old with a discriminating package in order to entice individuals to pursue careers in teaching. This move was seen by many as clever.
Otti promised the Federal government that Abia will support them in achieving the September deadline for launching the institution.
