Back-to-school in SW : Governor Galvanizes Education Community

“A required to face a gene ral threat” was the concluding phrase of general mobilization isthe Chief Executive Officer of the South West Region as he chaired a multi-sectorial meeting of frontline actors of the education community, few days to the start of the 2024-2025 academic year. The meeting, which gathered all regional education officials from both public, private and confessional sectors, administrative authorities, defense and security top bras of the region, amongst others, was to identify particular threats and very volatile zones ahead of the September 9 reopening date. Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai noted that the working session was to pave the way for concrete actions to counter threats issued by armed separatist fighters circulating on the social media. While opening the working session, the Governor said, “enough is enough” to the violence, arson and the pain inflicted on the population by the armed separatist fighters. He stressed that children who deserve to acquire knowledge and skills in schools cannot be denied their fundamental human rights through repeated threats and incomprehensible criminal activities, which in some cases have led to killings and torture of schoolchildren and destruction of educational infrastructure. He thus enjoined all stakeholders including local elected officials (councilors, members of parliament), traditional rulers and elite to take their responsibility by sensitizing their communities for effective school resumption in the South West Region. “We must terrorize the terrorists by denouncing them,” he said while tasking local leaders to lead the population to say no to school boycotts and lockdown. Governor Okalia Bilai dished out several recommendations, amongst which were, the respect of the...