Adamawa State Commissioner for Education, Doctor. Umar Garba Pella, has issued a stern warning to public and private schools yet to transition from manual to digital school census, stating that defaulters will face sanctions.
Doctor Garba Pella gave the warning while supervising the ongoing training of facilitators for the digitization of Annual school census
organized by Adamawa state government in collaboration with the United Nations Childrens Fund UNICEF at Bakari Hamidu Primary School in Gire local government area of the State.
The commissioner while acknowledging the commitment and enthusiasm of the head teachers and principals, expressed confidence that at the end of the exercise the aim will be achieved.
While pointing out that the training is an encompassing project, Doctor Garba Pella noted that any school that has not complied with the directive will be sanctioned.
The commissioner expressed the hope that at the end of the training, the state will have good facilitators that will step down the knowledge acquired at school level.
Speaking ,UNICEF Education Specialist Mr. Saka Ibrahim While advising the facilitators to use a more practical approach on the training, revealed that the objective is to have relevant data of schools on the system within the two days.
He staed that UNICEF has provided internet facilities in each of the centers as well as numbers of monitors for a smooth exercise.
The UNICEF official used the forum to express appreciation to the European Union, Norwegian embassy, Federal Government and the Adamawa state government for supporting the initiative.
Commenting, the Education Secretary, Girei local government malam Muhammad Bala Tela expressed optimism that the technological initiative would pave the way for long-term educational reforms that will benefit both students and teachers across the local government area.
In an interview with a headteacher and a principal attending the training, they separately expressed appreciation for the initiative and described it as timely as well as impactful.
They noted that the digitization of the Annual School Census would not only simplify data collection processes but also enhance transparency and accountability in the education sector.