The Abia State Government declared that it has shortened six years of elementary education to three years in order to expedite the Basic Education Program and increase access to education for adults and residents who are not enrolled in school. Those who were unable to finish their basic education are the target audience for the program, which is run by the state Agency for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education. Following the weekly meeting of the state executive council, which was presided over by state governor Dr. Alex Otti, Prince Okey Kanu, the State Information Commissioner, made this announcement to reporters at Government House in Umuahia on Monday night.
Additionally, Commissioner Kanu announced that the World Bank Health Security Grant of $250 million has selected Abia State as one of its recipients. He attributed this decision to the sector's ongoing development reforms, pointing out that during the review period, no cases of serious public health illnesses like Lassa fever, Mpox, diphtheria, yellow fever, cholera, or rabies had been reported.
In order to receive their first school-leaving certificate, Commissioner Kanu asked the concerned citizens to take advantage of the initiative. He said, "The Abia State Accelerated Basic Education Programme that is aimed at running the six-year primary school curriculum in three years has commenced. Abians and residents who could not conclude their basic education should take advantage of this opportunity to sit for and obtain their first school-leaving certificate in the State”.
Commissioner Kanu claims that Abia State is among the states offering this program for individuals who were not able to receive their initial school-leaving certificate due to early-life setbacks. Commissioner Kanu also said that they are currently putting together the results from the oral interviews for the second group of candidates in the teachers' recruitment process, who were selected after the Computer-Based Test (CBT), and that all successful candidates will be informed soon. The state is currently recruiting an additional 4,000 teachers.
Additionally, the Commissioner revealed that more than 7,280 applicants received scores higher than 40% on the computer-based test, guaranteeing that the procedure will continue to be open and merit-based.