After the tour of Imperial College and a three-hour session on ‘Engineering for the future’, Favour, one of the students on the Akwa Ibom/United Kingdom Edutrip, approached the Commissioner for Education and told her, “I will study hard, learn, pass my exams in flying colours and then I will apply to this school”.
This is just one of the many inspiring discussions that emerged from the sessions the students had with the globally renowned intellectual, Dr Sunday Popoola, at Imperial College yesterday.
The students who were selected from public secondary schools in rural areas of the 31 Local Government Areas of the state, through an examination, are scheduled to undertake taster sessions at Imperial College, University of Cambridge, and Coventry University in addition to study tours to the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, The National Arts Gallery, Science Museum and the museum of natural history, etc. They had been received earlier by the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at the Nigeria House, London.
Before the students left for the United Kingdom, the sponsor of the trip, His Excellency Governor Umo Eno, had met with, prayed for, and advised the students to make the best use of the opportunity, by learning as much as they could from the trip.
The delegation is led by the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Idongesit Etiebet, supported by the Commissioner for Information, Comrade Ini Ememobong, and the Chairman, State Secondary Education Board, Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Mrs. Ekaette Ebong Okon.
This Edutrip, a brainchild of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno as a part of his administration’s investment in education. The Edutrip is an incentivization strategy by the government to stimulate better academic performance at the secondary education level, in addition to the payment of examination fees, bursaries and scholarships for tertiary institutions, grants to physically challenged students, and infrastructure improvements at all levels.
The Governor aims to promote academic excellence by rewarding intelligent students in different ways. He had promised the students his continuous support, beyond the UK trip.
