FIC Report (Abia State) – the Wife of Abia State Governor, Dr. Nkechi Ikpeazu has charged Teachers to see themselves as role models to their pupils and students.
Dr. Ikpeazu gave the charge at the 2nd Teacher’s Summit organized by the Education Department of the Eastern Nigeria Union Conference (ENUC) of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church at the Union Headquarters, Abayi Umueze, Aba.
Dr. Ikpeazu who was elated at the number of children raised by the Union described Teaching as a noble profession which gives one the opportunity to shape the destiny of others.
According to her, “if the school can bank on their population advantage to positively influence this number of people through their education system, these efforts would have populated the heavenly kingdom”.
She called for a holistic approach to education with emphasis on the mental, physical, social, spiritual and intellectual growth of the pupils and students geared towards service to humanity, having the church at the helm of affairs.
The Wife of the Governor who described the Theme of the event “I WILL GO: MODELLING THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL IN THE CLASSROOM” as apt, used the forum to remind Teachers that sound knowledge is of God and urged them never to fail to recognize God as their source while educating those entrusted in their care with adequate knowledge of the person and fellowship with God.
In her words “As Teachers, you have a sacred and onerous duty to model the everlasting gospel in the classrooms you find yourselves. I want you to know that as you teach them, let your personal life be a teacher to them too. They are watching you, they depend on you for character moulding and you should not disappoint them”.
She further charged them on hardwork, honesty, dedication, commitment; and positive impacts.
Speaking earlier, President of the ENUC, Pastor Bassey Udoh, Phd, explained that the purpose of the Conference was to foster balanced development of the person which includes Spiritual, physical, intellectual, and socio-emotional, a process that spans a lifetime.
He emphasized that true education is restoring human beings to the image of God as revealed by the life of Jesus Christ which can only be achieved through the help of the Holy Spirit.
He called for a synergy between religious faithful to enable them achieve a common goal which he described as “producing good citizens for eternity”, while assuring of the commitment of the union to train people in the image and likeness of God.
Also speaking, the Director of the Eastern Nigeria Union Conference, Mrs. Yetunde Ezinwanyi Alozie, said that this year’s gathering focused on recognizing the Teaching profession as first a calling and also a gift which is set aside by God.
She explained that no matter how professionally trained Teachers are, the only way to gauge their teaching abilities is finding out how Jesus Christ taught and applying same in the classrooms.
According to the Director, the Topic of the year’s event was carefully selected and captioned noting that effectiveness and dynamics in their schools will greatly depend on the extent to which teachers function as Prophets, Priests and Kings vis-a-vis the Students.
She re-echoed that Teachers are the light to a developmental path of the pupils and students, and should model the everlasting gospel in their classrooms as earlier outlined.
Also, the Commissioner for Basic Education, Hon. Ukwu Rocks Emma, applauded the Organisers of the Summit for inadvertently or advertently touching the nerve center of Governor Ikpeazu’s pillars of development in Education sector.
According to him, the Summit will give Teachers the opportunity to develop more, reflect their duty to man and God maintaining that the act of teaching is a gift that only God can give.
He went further to describe their program theme, chosen topics for discourse as one which speaks about their resolve to contribute to a positive and holistic re-engineering of our education architecture.
He thanked them for keying into Governor Ikpeazu’s aggressive campaign for educational reforms in the state which can be seen in his several infrastructure being put on place, overhauling of Teachers ability and other areas.
The Union has 77 Primary Schools, 6 Secondary Schools, 426 Teachers and over 12,000 Students and Pupils being raised by the Church.
