Public Education Suffers Setback In Oyo

Despite promises from the Oyo state government, It is quite worrisome that public primary and secondary school education in the state is presently suffering from inadequate funding  thus;  teaching and learning activities in the schools are at the lowest ebb, investigations revealed.

Shortly, on assumption of office in May 29, 2019, the state governor, Engr Seyi Makinde offered free education in line with his electioneering campaign from primary to secondary education. He further abolished all forms of payment, particularly the N1000 per term under the education policy of Schools’ Governing Boards (SGBs) of the immediate past administration. The N1000 fees as reliably gathered were domiciled in the accounts of the schools as ”Baseline Fund”  for their smooth -running.

The governor also approved the release of the sum of N526 million as running costs for public schools for the first term of the 2019/2020 academic session. However, public primary and secondary schools in the state are yet to collect the running costs as at 11th week  after resumption, while the students are expected to spend about 13 weeks per term in school. 

Meanwhile, the school managers who confided in Mega Icon Magazine have resorted to obtaining instructional materials on credit. Also, there exists an acute shortage of teaching personnel in the public schools through out the state leaving out several subjects in the curriculum left untaught or poorly taught as the existing staff cannot cope  with the available workload.

Shortage of furniture is another teething problem confronting public schools in the state. Visits to some schools in the city revealed that pupils sit on bare floors and windows during learning sessions.

Governor Makinde had earlier confirmed this when he paid an unscheduled visit to some schools around Odeaje,  Orita Aperin and  other worst-hit schools in the metropolis. The governor pledged rectifying the situation, but, to no avail up till now.

Continuing, harassment of the teaching personnel by the ’emergency supervisors’ and non – professionals was another matter.

 

“In fact, this is the latest absurdity. These emergency supervisors were deliberately designated to harass us on trumped up charges of money extortion. These people are not even from the Ministry, TESCOM or SUBEB”,  the school managers lamented.

According to them, the teaching personnel are presently working under trepidation as some of their colleagues had been  either queried or suspended from service on the recommendation of ’emergency supervisors’  on frivolous charges.