Why Oyo education can’t move forward – PDP guber aspirant, Seyi Makinde
Party (PDP), in Oyo state, Engineer Seyi Makinde has on Monday
insisted that the state will continue to lack behind in the area of
education if students in both public primary and secondary schools
continue to use "used tyres" as their desks.
Makinde who said that the 2017 budgetary allocation for education
which was about N5.1b ((about 2 per cent of the total budget) was "too
low compared to the UNESCO recommendation and what is obtainable in
other states" made this declaration while addressing journalists at
the state of the state media chart in his Omi Tuntun Ibadan office.
Makinde who berated Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the state for what he
described as "paying lip service to education by choosing only six
schools as model schooled in the state", informed that it was
unfortunate that "students in some primary and secondary schools in
the state are still sitting on used tyres and using used tyres as
their desks".
The PDP stalwart who said that the N5 billion budget allocation which
represents about 2. per cent in the 2017 budget and N5.6b budget
allocation which represents about 2.1 per cent in the 2018 budget was
"too far compared to the UNESCO recommendation", however urged Ajimobi
to invest heavily in education to address the dwindling state of the
education in the state by allocating huge amount of money to the
sector instead of "choosing six schools as model schools".
The PDP gubernatorial aspirant while sympathising with the people of
the state for "enduring with the Ajimobi administration for many
years", then assured that his administration when voted to power in
2019 would be allocating at least 40 per cent of the state budget to
education with a 30 pupils/students per class policy.
Makinde said, "We all see challenges we are facing in the education
sector in the state when teachers are on strike and the students
learning under substandard infrastructure, some students are using
used tyres as their desks.
"It is unfortunate that students in public schools in primary and
secondary schools in Oyo state are using used tyres as their desks.
When I was admitted to Bishop Philip, I went to a public school, the
environment was good. They gave me everything, chairs, tables and
textbooks. It attracted many people and the enrolment in the school
increased. And I am a product of the free education which later
contributed to what I became today. But, now students are studying and
schooling under inferior infrastructure and some are still sitting and
using used tyres as their desks and to sit. Are we giving the same
opportunity given to us to these folks now? The answer is no.
"There can be no improvement if the students continue to study and sit
on the used tyres in the public schools. UNESCO recommended what
states should allocate to education. I looked at the 2017 budget,
education was given about N5 billon and in 2018 it was about N5.6
billion, that is about 2.5 per cent of the total budget. Now, some
teachers have been sacked. The 2.5 per cent allocation was too far
from the UNESCO recommendation.
"The government is showcasing six schools that are on the main road as
model schools. What about those that are in the remote areas in the
villages?"
Makinde added that when elected, he will turn around the fortune of
the state's education sector, having realised that education is the
best legacy this generation can bequeath to the incoming ones.
He said, "We will ensure the 30 students per class policy in all the
schools. We will not just showcase five or six secondary schools and
call them model schools, some of these schools are located along the
major roads. What about others, those in the interior areas? All
schools should be metal schools.
"In the first year, we will allocate 40 to 50 of the total budget to
education because education is the tool you can give to people to take
them out of poverty and this will go on and on".
He said, "The next election will be won and lost according to the
voting pattern. It is the people that will determine who wins and not
the leaders. The people have endured in the past seven years, but I
want to tell them that after suffering, they will enjoy. I want them
to know that. The people have endured win Ajimobi in the last seven
years, but I assure them that things will change for better after the
2019 elections".
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