Two Nigerian students have won third position at the just-concluded Stockholm Junior Water Prize Competition in Sweden.
The students who represented Nigeria occupied the position out of 42 countries that participated in the competition.
The winners-Blessing Umoukpong and Iniso Edward from Northern Annang Secondary Commercial School, NASCO in Etim Ekpo local government area of Akwa Ibom State won prize on Water Purification Using Natural Plant Fiber.
The students who took in the competition for the first time bagged Stockholm Junior Water Prize Diploma Certificate.
The Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Charles Udoh, who broke the news to the media in Uyo, attributed the success of the students to the dividends of the sound education policy of the Governor Udom Emmanuel-led administration in public schools in the state.
Udoh who noted that the state is becoming a cynosure of eyes globally with its increasing winning catalogue in all sectors thanked Akwa Ibom government and the Federal government for the assistance rendered to the students to participate in the competition.
However, some educationists have sharply disagreed with the assertion that the students emerged victorious due to the high quality of education in public schools in the state.
Some cited degrading 17th position occupied by the state in the 2018 West African Examination Council (WAEC) Ranking while the state was placed 16th in the 2017 ranking.
They attributed the students’ success to their personal efforts and brilliance not the quality of education in public schools which, according to them, the standard of education was drastically ebbing despite the free, compulsory education offered by the state government.
