By Raphael Ede
Enugu
A non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Enugu state, South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO), has distributed over 400 transistor radios to secondary schools and technical colleges in the state to begin a Radio School programme.
Addressing newsmen shortly after handing over the transistor radio sets to principals of the institutions yesterday, the Executive Director of the organisation, Grace Nwobodo, said the Radio School “is a new approach towards improving Secondary school education where adolescents will be required to listen and learn from model lessons based on the national educational curriculum delivered through radio.”
While thanking the state government for “buying into the project and making it an in-school programme rather than out-of-school programme” as the project was intended initially, she said “in the meantime, JSS2 students will be the beneficiaries of this project with four subjects; Mathematics, English, Civic Education & Basic Science to be taught on radio.”
“Broadcast of Radio School lessons will be on Radio Nigeria AM/Medium wave on 828 Kilohertz and will start at 11:45am,”she said.
Mrs. Nwobodo, fielding questions from newsmen on what the project intended to achieve, said the “Radio School programme is intend to bridge the yearning gap in our standard of education by bringing good quality teaching so that we have good quality learning outcomes.”
“It is not a question of somebody finishes school and comes out and he cannot speak and write good English. So, the teaching is critical because it is what you teach or give to the children that the children would able to utilise and be productive and be useful citizens of this country.”
Handing over the radio sets the principals, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze, advised the principals to complement the efforts of the government to ensure that quality of education in the state was improved greatly, stressing that “if you want to get quality education we must lay a fair foundation for our children.”
“A child must not move on borrowed garment, nine credits gotten true examination malpractice can never be seen as a result because many ‘Okada’ riders have 9As,’ but they cannot do anything with it and many of them are frustrated,” he said.
