Introduction:
The Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) now Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) observed at its inception into office that there is a dearth of qualified persons, from the Oil and Gas producing communities of the nation in science-based professions particularly those relevant to the oil industry. The cause of this is traceable to the fact that children from these areas perform poorly in the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE), particularly in science-based subjects.
OMPADEC now NDDC, a body set up by the Federal Government to address the problems of oil producing areas decided it would set up science centres as one of her strategies for addressing the dearth of science-based professionals in the Niger Delta region. They are to be known and called OMPADEC Science Centres (OSC).
Objectives of the OSC:
The aims and objectives of the OSCs are summed up as follows:
(i) To provide comprehensive science education for a solid science background to address the acute deficiency in the sciences.
(ii) To assist children from oil producing communities to obtain the minimum academic requirement needed for admission into science-based courses in degree-awarding institution.
(iii) To produce a crop of senior secondary school leavers with high technical orientation thus providing them with better employment opportunities in science-related fields.
Scope of the OSC:
The OMPADEC Science Centres are to cater for students at the senior secondary school level only, by admitting the products of the junior secondary school level that have been tested and found to be science inclined. Such students are to be drawn from regular schools within the area.
Thus, it was that OMPADEC now NDDC in collaboration with the Rivers State College of Arts and Science now Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic established the present Niger Delta Science School, then known as the OMPADEC Science Centre as a Pilot Scheme in 1995. When OMPADEC became defunct, and was later revitalized with a new name known as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the change of the school’s name from OMPADEC Science Centre to Niger Delta Science School (NDSS) was consequently effected.
Student Population:
The centre took off in the 1995/96 session with a total of 157 students, 99 boys and 58 girls. By the second year 1996/77 session, the population was 325, and 474 in the 1997/98 session. From the 2009/2010 session, the school’s intake increased to over 500 students till date.
Funding:
OMPADEC (now NDDC) provided the funds as subventions released to the Centre up to June 1997. These subventions were for recurrent expenditure (Personnel emolument and overhead costs) only. Capital projects were executed directly by OMPADEC. As a result of lack of subventions from OMPADEC (now NDDC) in the times past, the source of funds for the school was and is still school fees.
