DEPARTMENTS

The Ministry has nine (9) departments and two (2) units as follows:

• Administration Department: This is a service department in charge of personnel records, staff welfare, minor works, and transport and general supplies. The Department is headed by Mrs Ola Agomoh.
• Planning, Research and Statistics Department: The Department is in charge of educational planning. It produces monthly, quarterly and annual reports, coordinates, analyzes and stores data. It is headed by Mrs Ngozi Chiori.
• Finance Department: This is a service department in charge of the accounts and financial transactions of the Ministry in line with extant Financial Regulations. The Department is headed by Mr. Ibuchim Okorie.
• Inspectorate (Basic) Department: There are four Zonal Inspectorate Offices viz: Aba North, Aba South, Umuahia North and Ohafia and 20 Area Inspectorate Offices in the Local Government Areas under the Department. The main function of the department is to inspect, monitor and supervise education activities at the basic education level. Mrs Rhoda Oriaku is the Director in charge of the Department.
• Inspectorate (Senior) Department: The Department oversees the educational activities at the post basic education level. It is headed by Dr. (Mrs.) Ezinne Ngwakwe.
• Curriculum Department: The department is in charge of analysis and evaluation of educational policies, plans and practices including National Council on Education (NCE) and Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCCE) as well as curriculum and text books development.The Department is headed by Mrs. Florence Uloma Orih.
• Education Services Department: The department develops activities and programmes that enhance the education of the handicapped at all levels, through the award of scholarships, bursary, feeding and rehabilitation. It also oversees nomadic schools for migrant farmers. The Department is headed by Mrs. Victoria Adindu.
• Scholarship Department: The Department oversees the award of scholarships and bursaries but the activities of this Department have been whittled with the establishment of the Abia State Scholarship Board. It is headed by Mrs. Blessing Chinyere Ukachi.
• Public Relations Unit: This is the image making Unit of the Ministry. The unit carries out public relations and press activities. It is headed by Mrs. Ugochi Ihediwa.
• Quality Assurance Unit: The unit carries out quality assurance inspection of teaching in all schools and is under the office of the Permanent Secretary for ease of supervision. The unit is headed by Mrs. Justina Uwajimgba
• Examinations Development Commission (EDC): The commission conducts all state examinations and related matters. The staff of the EDC are on the nominal roll and payroll of the Ministry of Education. The EDC is headed by a Registrar, Mrs. Ledim Umeh.

PARASTATALS AND TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS OF THE MINISTRY

The Ministry has the following parastatals and tertiary institutions under its supervision:

• Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) The Board is in charge of recruitment, deployment and supervision of teachers for upper basic education. The board is also in charge of schools monitoring, data documentation, maintenance and general management of the three education zones of Abia State. The board is headed by Mr. Christopher Osuagwu
• The Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) : The board operates the Universal Basic Education involving children of ages 6-15 through provision of child friendly facilities, suitable learning environment, monitoring of teachers for foundational empowerment. The Board is headed by Elder Okechukwu Anonaba
• The Abia State Library Board: This is a service department in charge of the accounts and financial transactions of the Ministry in line with extant Financial Regulations. The Department is headed by Mr. Ibuchim Okorie.
• Inspectorate (Basic) Department: The Board is in charge of all Government Libraries in the State. The Board is headed by Mr. Chimuche Ekeledo
• Agency for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education: The agency serves as an instrument for the eradication of illiteracy in the State and is headed by Mr. Douglas Nwaorji
• Abia State Scholarship Board: : The Board coordinates overseas and national scholarships and bursary awards to Abia students. The Board is headed by Mr. Daniel Chukwuka.
• Education for Employment (E4E): The E4E is charged with the coordination of the IDEAS project and the functional education for Abia youth in technical courses/trades. It is headed by Mr Endy Ezengwa
• Abia State Education Support Fee and Education Trust Fund: The fund is an interventionist establishment aimed at assisting primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the state. The fund is headed by Mr. Isaac Iwe
• Continuing Teachers Training Centre: The Centre is charged specifically with the training of teachers both in the Ministry and in the school system. The Centre is headed by Mr. Ben Iroakazi
• Abia State Primary Schools Lunch Programme (APSLUP): Domiciled in the office of the wife of the Governor, this agency provides free school meals for pupils in public primary schools and is headed by Elder Chukwuemeka Ahuruonye

TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

• Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU), headed by Prof. Maxwell Ogbulu
• Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, headed by Dr. Kalu Osonwa
• College of Education (Technical), Arochukwu headed by Dr. Philips Nto

PROJECTS PLANNED AND UNDERTAKEN:

The following projects were planned and undertaken from January 2020 to October, 2021

• Launch of the Safe School Programme
• Sustenance of Tuition-free Basic and Post Basic Education
• Abia State Free Primary School Lunch anchored in the First Lady’s Office
• Sustained Education for Employment (E4E)
• Continuous Teachers Training and Retraining
• Construction and distribution of secondary school students furniture and provision of other child friendly school facilities
• Radio/TV classroom during COVID 19 lockdown
• Stakeholders Mini Summit before reopening of schools after COVID 19 lockdown
• Abia State Stakeholders Education Summit
• Training of students on the use of computers for e-examination and personal hygiene
• Capacity building for Education Officers and other personnel
• Government closedown of substandard schools
• Inspection and upgrading of schools laboratories
• Renovation of some dilapidated schools.
• Preparing for the take-off of the four model schools
• Approving the inclusion of the Vicar Hope Foundation Sickle Cell Awareness Programme in the school curriculum
• Perfecting the disarticulation of schools
• Developed the Ministry of Education website
• Getting the Executive Council approval for the Central Promotion Examination.
• Sustaining the high performance of Abia State in public examinations
• Approval of new public and private Schools
• Workshop for all Directors and Deputy Directors on Research and Evaluation Methods for Schools Inspection and Supervision.

ON-GOING PROJECTS:

• Complementing the Federal Government’s Home Grown Feeding of Primary 1-3 pupils with the Abia State Primary School Lunch Programme for Primary 4-6
• Continuous Teacher/Staff Development programmes:
• Teachers on Career Development and Entrepreneurial skills
• Private School Teachers and Contemporary Social Health Education issues
• Capacity Building of Education Officers for Work Efficiency and Effectiveness
• Sustained the Education for Employment (E4E) programme by training 500 youths in employable skills. Meanwhile, 85 of these trained youths have been enlisted for absorption in the State Civil Service. Discussions are ongoing to secure interest free loans from the Central Bank to empower the others for self-reliance.
• Conducting the Annual School Census exercise which is on-going.
• Employment of science teachers by SEMB to fortify learning of science subjects in schools.
• Sustainability of tuition – free education, at the basic and post basic levels.
• Establishment of National Open University Study Centre at Umuahia
• Seminar/Workshops for adult education facilitators and unit heads in Abia State
• Enumeration of public and private schools for the production of the first Education Directory.
• The hosting of a website for the Ministry of Education
• Starting the digitalization of the Ministry of Education

PROJECTS PLANNED AND UNDERTAKEN:

The following projects were planned and undertaken from January 2020 to October, 2021

• Launch of the Safe School Programme
• Sustenance of Tuition-free Basic and Post Basic Education
• Abia State Free Primary School Lunch anchored in the First Lady’s Office
• Sustained Education for Employment (E4E)
• Continuous Teachers Training and Retraining
• Construction and distribution of secondary school students furniture and provision of other child friendly school facilities
• Radio/TV classroom during COVID 19 lockdown
• Stakeholders Mini Summit before reopening of schools after COVID 19 lockdown
• Abia State Stakeholders Education Summit
• Training of students on the use of computers for e-examination and personal hygiene
• Capacity building for Education Officers and other personnel
• Government closedown of substandard schools
• Inspection and upgrading of schools laboratories
• Renovation of some dilapidated schools.
• Preparing for the take-off of the four model schools
• Approving the inclusion of the Vicar Hope Foundation Sickle Cell Awareness Programme in the school curriculum
• Perfecting the disarticulation of schools
• Developed the Ministry of Education website
• Getting the Executive Council approval for the Central Promotion Examination.
• Sustaining the high performance of Abia State in public examinations
• Approval of new public and private Schools
• Workshop for all Directors and Deputy Directors on Research and Evaluation Methods for Schools Inspection and Supervision.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

The Abia State Governor, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, Ph.D being responsive and education friendly included education as one of the five pillars of his administration. Education has witnessed tremendous growth since the inception of his administration. The thrust of the Ministry is in the SDG4 and the UNESCO Education 2030 Agenda which are geared towards the provision of free, equitable and total basic education and the promotion of life-long learning process. We have recorded the following cardinal achievements:

• Re-organized the Ministry based on her strength and weaknesses.
• Repaired all the grounded vehicles for field work.
• Repositioned the Area Inspectorate Officers through two weeks training at Ibeku High School
• Refashioned the policy thrust and vision of the Ministry
• Re-organized the budgetary framework and made a successful budget presentation 2021 at the State Budget Committee
• Introduced regular briefing of the entire Ministry’s staff.
• Initiated and propagated two World Bank Assisted Programmes.
• Abia State Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operations (YESSO)
• Upgrading of three no technical colleges for Education for Employment and the IDEAS programme
• Initiated the enforcement of laboratory standards and establishment of laboratories for proper scientific teaching/learning.
• Meet regularly with what is the All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), NAPTAN for effective schools management.
• Packaged and executed a successful Ministry of Education Stakeholders Summit with the Governor in Attendance
• Received and distributed thousands of sanitizers, face masks, thermometers, sick bay equipment, subsidy for hand washing stations for public primary and secondary schools and sanitizers to private schools and Mass Literacy Centres in the State.
• Effectively monitored WAEC, NECO examinations and fished out miscreants/defaulters and handed them over to the examination bodies for sanctions.
• Met with the police for safe school programme in the State.
• Effectively synergize with the Federal Ministry of Education.
• Successfully represented Abia State at the 2020 National Council on Education (NCE)
• Renovation of some dilapidated secondary schools.
• Provision of perimeter fencing in some secondary schools.
• Ordered the procurement and distribution of first aid boxes and medical materials to secondary schools.
• Printing and distribution of schools registers, diaries and continuous assessment booklets to schools.
• Renovation of Special Education Centre (School for the Blind) is on-going at Afara Umuahia, and Aba.
• Establishment of additional Adult Literacy Centres across the State, (five were-kick-started in Ariaria International Market in August, 2019)
• Abia State took 2nd and 4th positions in the President’s Best Teacher Awards for Administration in 2020 and 2021 respectfully.

Decentralized delegation of special assignments by the appointment of desk officers as follows:

• Desk officer for Sustainable Development Goals in the Education Sector.
• Desk officer for Unicef Programme.
• Desk officer for Water / Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in schools.
• Desk officer for Human Rights Clubs in schools.
• Desk officer for National Teachers Institute (NTI)