Gov. Rauf Aregbesola
The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has on Wednesday said his administration will leave no stone unturned in giving Osun a legacy of an enhanced environment of learning obtainable in any advanced country of the world.
This was even as the Association of Primary Schools Headteachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) lauded the educational policies and programmes initiated by the Osun State Government under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
The governor stated this while receiving an Award of Excellence from the Association of Primary school Headteachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) in Osogbo.
Aregbesola noted that his government has come to the realisation that school environment largely determine the quality and character of students produced.
He stressed that as part of his administration’s commitment to the development of education in the state, government will be putting forward for use a High school facilty with the capacity of 3,000 students named after Prof. Wole Soyinka in Ejigbo on Monday
He thanked the Association for finding the state worthy of being the host of her National convention, contrary to adversarial media impression.
The Governor held that Osun is a safe haven and the best place for the meeting of serious minds, saying It is peaceful, safe and endowed with the beauty of nature in its grandeur.
Aregbesola added that education has been a major policy thrust of his government in Osun since the inception of our administration and the reason for the considerable amount of resources and effort spent on education.
According to the Governor, “undoubtedly, education is also a common denominator between us; it is a passion we both share and it is my great desire that we both take it to a great level. On our part, we have given our possible best to education and will continue to do so.
“We are therefore building state of the art 100 elementary schools. The idea behind this is that there should be an elementary public school in every neighbourhood. We are also building 50 middle and 20 high schools. Out of these, 14 elementary schools, 15 middle schools and 11 high schools have been completed.
“Work is ongoing on the rest and they are at different stages of completion. It is our sincere hope that we shall complete them before the end of our tenure.
“On Monday, we are going to present our model high school, named after a worthy Nigerian and a great educationist himself, Prof Wole Soyinka. It is a school in a class of its own, that will accommodate 3,000 pupils, with full learning infrastructure”. The governor told the gathering.
The Association through its National President, Alhaji Mahmud Lawal commended the governor. For his giant stride in Education.
He described the state educational policies as one of the best in the world, saying Governor Aregbesola has bridged the wider gap between the public and private education in the country.
Alhaji Lawal who identified with the state government on the current economic situation lauded Aregbesola for his unwavering support to quality education as he has provided a smooth template and conducive academic environment for pupils and students across the state.
He averred that in spite the current financial challenges being encountered by the present administration, the state didn’t deter from all the programmes embarked upon.
The (AOPSHON) National President contented that the state government has been building its educational policies on the solid rock of academic transformation, success and development which according to him has manifested in the quality of its pupils and students.
He said the provision of viable educational sector in the state has significantly translated into what he described as vibrant basic education knowledge acquisition which according to remain the best stage of learning.
According to him ” Osun State deserves a worthwhile commendation and encomium especially on its giant strides and laudable achievements in educational sector which had earned it several accolades and international recognition.
“Though our coming to Osun State was primarily to hold our annual National Seminar/Workshop and as well acknowledge the trends of general development and immense contributions of the current government in education most importantly elementary education.
“we have identified primary education as the most essential part of human life which must not be ignored by any serious government as it sets pace for subsequent knowledge acquisition and academic qualifications.
Meanwhile, the Osun State Government will on Monday November 23, 2015, unveil the newly completed High School in Ejigbo, Ejigbo Local Government Area of the state.
The new school, named after Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, is a magnificent three-in-one school, which has the capacity for 3,000 pupils.
The Monday commissioning of the school, marks the first of such High school facilities in the state having commissioned schools in the other lower categories of the mega-schools being built by the Rauf Aregbesola administration.
The Government had earlier commissioned the Salvation Government Middle School, Alekuwodo, Osogbo, Baptist Elementary Government School, Ilare, Ile Ife as well as the Ansar-rul-Deen Government Elementary School, Isale Osun, Osogbo. Already, more than 50 schools in the Elementary and Middle School classification have been completed and put to use across the state.
A statement signed by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, said the unveiling of the new school is in furtherance of the determined implementation of the report of the 2011 education summit organised by the state government which identified the multiform problems and rots standing in the way of functional education in Nigeria.
The statement listed the facilities in the school to include the followings:
Borehole
Transformer
72 Classrooms of 49 square-meters each capable of sitting 49 students. (Fully furnished)
6 Offices for study groups.
6 Laboratories (Fully furnished)
18 Toilets for young ladies
18 Toilets for young men
1 Science library (Fully furnished)
1 Art Library (Fully furnished)
1 Facility manager’s office
1 Book shop
1 Sick Bay
1 Bursar’s office
3 Principals’ office (Furnished)
3 General Staff office
1 Senior principal’s office (Furnished)
1 Record store
1 Security shed/Reception
A total of 1000square-meters of floor space Hall capable of siting 1000 students for external exams
A Storage for equipment
A Utility storage
A Stage
Office Space
Storage for Documents
4 Female Toilets
4 Male Toilets
Olympic sized football field
7 lane sprinting tracks for 100meters and 400meters
Pavilion
Outdoor Basketball court that doubles as Lawn Tennis court
Ample parking space for more than 75 cars
The statement further assured the people of Osun that all the projects embarked upon in the education sector and other sectors will be completed.
It added that policies of the Aregbesola administration are aimed at producing world class educated minds who are well groomed to impact on humanity. Thus the heavy investments in the complete overall of the infrastructure, provision of modern learning environment, training and retraining of the teaching personnel for the realisation of the objective of producing world class products who can hold their own anywhere in the world.
It said that it was gratifying that the various interventions of the Aregbesola administration in the education sector has yielded bountifully stating that the performances of the pupils from the state in examinations compared to the pre-Aregbesola era are indications of positive results of the interventions.
admin
