Makurdi 2013

COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 56TH ANNUAL NATIONAL CONGRESS OF ALL NIGERIA CONFEDERATION OF PRINCIPALS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS (ANCOPSS) HELD AT I.B.B. SQUARE MAKURDI, BENUE STATE FROM 8TH 12TH APRIL, 2013.

PREAMBLE:

At the end of the 56th Annual National Congress which has as its theme "Empowering Principals for Optimum Productivity in Secondary Schools in Nigeria", congress in session observed as follows:

OBSERVATIONS
1. Principals are critical stakeholders in the provision of quality education in Nigeria;
2. Continuing professional training programmes such as Mandatory Continuing Professional Training (MCPT) etc is a sine qua non for attainment of optimum productivity;
3. We cannot achieve the expected quality education without competent teachers and principals;
4. The secondary school education sub-sector has no National Commission despite its importance as link between the basic and the tertiary education levels;
5. The lack of infrastructure that led to large class size of ratio 62(learners): 1 (classroom) militates against optimum productivity;
6. High learners/teachers ratio of over 44:1 hampers optimum productivity;
7. Low remuneration of teachers and principals deters interests and motivations as well as prevents best brains from joining the teaching profession;
8. Politicization of education through under funding and lack of political will to implement the annual budget allotted to education have been identified as cogsin the wheel of educational development in Nigeria;
9. Inadequate sensitization on the relevance of technical and vocational education had led to low enrolment in technical and vocational institutions;
10. Abdication of parental responsibilities to schools and their connivance in academic fraud have hindered our attainment of high standard;
11. Undue involvement of non-professionals/charlatans had limited our ability to attain the expected standard;
12. General indiscipline, maladaptive behavior, and absenteeism in schools on the part of the students had led to poor academic performance;

RECOMMENDATIONS:
ANCOPSS is generally concerned over the persistent nose-diving of educational attaimnent in Nigeria and hence makes the following recommendations:

1. That the Government should fully involve ANCOPSS in all policy formulation and implementation;
2. Workshops and seminars should be mandatory and sub vented by government;
3. All principals, and indeed all professionals, should be licensed;
4. The congress recommends the establishment of the National Secondary Education Commission;
5. Massive construction of class rooms and renovation of the existing structures should be embarked upon without further delay;
6. There is need for the recruitment of adequately qualified teachers to close the yawning gap;
7. Government should make teaching more attractive to attract and retain the best brain;
8. Educational matters should be well funded and not politicized; the UNESCO recommendation of 26% of budgetary allocation should be strictly adhered to;
9. Parents and guardians should respect our value systems and positively participate in the funding of education as major stakeholder;
10. Immediate training and re-training of teachers should be embarked upon. Students of tertiary institutions should be encouraged to study/train in the trade subjects to make teachers available in the immediate future;

APPRECIATION:
Congress appreciates the contributions of the Benue State Government under the amiable leadership of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Gabriel.T. Suswam P.h.D. CON. .We appreciate his handsome donation, his hosting support and promise to look into problems raised by the Benue State ANCOPSS.

We are also impressed by the good rapport that exists between the State Ministry of Education and ANCOPSS Benue State. We have been laid under a great debt of gratitude by our own, Chief (Dr) Tongee Jem TorAnyiin, MON,PEN, J.P. who is instrumental to this rapport and the successful hosting of this congress;

Our appreciation also goes to His Royal Highness, the TorTiv ably represented by Ter Makurdi-Chief Sule Abinga and the good people of Benue State for their hospitality.

Finally, we appreciate the efforts of ANCOPSS Benue State Branch under the leadership of Mr. John Y. Weor, for the successful hosting of the 56th Annual Congress of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools. (ANCOPSS).

______________________                                                              ____________________
HAJIA BINTA ABDULRAHAMAN                                                        ALH. ILIYASU KIRIM
ANCOPSS NATIONAL PRESIDENT                                                         NATIONAL PRO