The Benue State Universal Basic Education Board Chairman, Rev. Dr Philip Tachin, yesterday assured that the Samuel Ortom administration was determined to tackle the challenges in the primary education sector.
He gave the assurance while inspecting some ongoing primary school projects in Oju, Obi and Otukpo Local Government Areas with a team which included the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and ICT, Mr. Tahav Agerzua.
The team inspected three primary schools in the local governments visited.
These were Local Government Education Authority, LGEA Primary Schools, Ogenge, Ainu and Okpong in Oju; Adiko-Ogende Ito, Adum East and Ogwutungbe in Obi; as well as Asa two, Amla Icho and Otukpo Nobi in Otukpo.
He stated that the intervention by way of facelift of primary schools through renovation and construction of classrooms was a practical expression of the determination to tackle the challenges so as to create a conducive environment for primary education.
The chairman appealed to teachers not to relent in their efforts of bringing up the young ones and promised that the state government was exploring ways of raising money to clear salary arrears owed them.
He directed the immediate supply of furniture to one of the schools and expressed satisfaction with the quality of work of most of the contractors and instructed that things not done properly should be amended.
Although some of the contractors complained about the hike in the cost of building materials in the market, the chairman assured them that it would be looked into but warned against the use of inferior materials adding that they should work with specifications given to them.