Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo on Friday laid foundation for the construction of an education hub to house a world class library with 50 million titles with state-of- the-art facilities in Edo.
Obaseki, who performed the ground breaking ceremony at premises of the Ministry of Education, Iyaro in Benin, disclosed that the hub would house a number of buildings.
He listed the buildings to include Library Board building, Board for Technical Education and Vocational Training (BTVET), Board for Quality Assurance and State Universal Education Board, (SUBEB).
Others are the Secondary Education Board, Primary Health Care Centre, Conference Centre that would accommodate 500 people at a sitting and cafe among others.
“For those of them that have been criticising, by May this year, we will open the branch of the library at Edo Mall.
“We are here today for the ground breaking ceremony of education hub, but coming here reminds us that education broke down in Edo State just like all these buildings.
“Deterioration in education in Edo State equates the type of deterioration that you see in this building in this premises.
“As a government, we would not have completed our work, having transformed the education system, leaving this infrastructure that would govern and regulate the sector.
“In the education hub, we would have a library board building. By May this year we would open a branch of the library at Edo Mall. You cannot open a branch without head office.
“We are rebuilding our library system with a minimum of 50 million tittles. We are rebuilding our library system into a digital system spread across the state.
“This will enable our children across the state log into Edo library to check and read books for their use. It will be a world class library system.
“It will also have Ministry of Education offices, SUBEB offices, Secondary School Education Board. We are focusing on disarticulation of junior from senior secondary school.
“Offices for technical education which are now a priority in the state, will be in the hub
“We want many children as possible to have skills to enable them to have handwork to feed themselves even if they cannot further their education.
According to him, “we would make sure that this hub is supported by world class amenities”.(NAN)
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