Lawmaker laments poor outing of A’Ibom school at quiz competition

The Deputy Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and member representing Itu State Constituency, Hon. Kufre Abasi Edidem, has expressed concern over the performance of a secondary school that participated in the just-concluded ARISE quiz competition, tagged BrainWave.

He also expressed the desire to launch an investigation into the school’s performance to determine the real cause of the issue.

Edidem said this while fielding questions from newsmen at a civic centre in Itu LGA after the quiz competition for secondary schools in Itu LGA, which he sponsored, also tagged BrainWave, on Friday.

Though he declined to mention the name of the school, the lawmaker expressed disappointment that the best three students fielded by the school for the quiz competition were unable to answer a single question, prompting him to call for a state of emergency at the school.

He said, “And there’s a particular school in Itu that I said we should declare a state of emergency on. This school came here for the competition; you know each school will bring in their best three, so if the three best students of the school who are going to write the West African Examination Council and in three subjects they couldn’t answer one question, a state of emergency should be declared on that school.”

The lawmaker, who noted that not everything should be pushed to the government, said he would liaise with the council chairman to see what intervention could be made to address the situation.

According to him, “We have taken note of the situation, and we cannot leave everything to the government alone. We, as representatives, will look into the situation. I have spoken to the council chairman, and on our own, we are going to see what the root cause is: Is it that there are not enough teachers? Or are the teachers not doing what they should do?”

The lawmaker also expressed worries over students’ performance gaps in critical subject areas such as Agricultural Science and Biology during the competition.

He noted that while there was high performance in subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, and others, there were glaring lapses in the two subjects, which, according to him, are “fundamental to the development of the state.”

The Deputy Speaker said such gaps signal the need for a reawakening of interest in Agricultural Science and Biology, adding that there is a need for students to understand the techniques of agriculture.

“However, this event has also revealed some critical gaps in students’ performance, especially in Agricultural Science and Biology, two subjects that are fundamental to our development as a people.

“Agriculture remains the backbone of our economy and a strategic pillar of the ARISE Agenda. Biology, on the other hand, is central to innovation in health, environment, and biotechnology.

“The performance gaps we observed signal a need for deliberate reawakening of interest in Agricultural Science in our secondary schools. Our young people must understand that agriculture is no longer limited to subsistence farming; it is now driven by technology, research, and innovation. We must encourage them to embrace this field as a pathway to wealth creation, food security, and national growth.”

The lawmaker, who stressed the need to bridge the gap by deploying more “qualified Biology and Agricultural Science teachers to our schools, not only in Itu but across the state,” promised to champion such advocacy within the appropriate government channels.

At the end of the competition, West Itam Secondary School came first, carting home a cash prize of N1 million, while Monef Secondary School came second, winning N500,000 in cash.