INSIDEPOLITICS
To many residents of Osun State, the recent reversal of the education policy put in place in the last administration of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola by his successor, Governor Gboyega Oyetola was a pleasant surprised.
Majority of the people in the state would not believe that the policy could be reversed given the fact that Oyetola was part of the Aregbesola’s government where he (Oyetola) served as the Chief of Staff and believed to be a major determinant of the decision taken in that administration.
While people see the education policy reversal as good step by Oyetola, political watchers in the state considered it as sign of crack in the relationship between the governor and his predecessor.
Others also viewed it as a serious indictment on Aregbesola and this has set the political camp of the former governor and current Interior Minister against the supporters of his predecessor.
Osun has been operating the 6-3-3-4 education system in line with the National Policy on Education but Aregbesola adjusted it to 4-5-3-4, a policy which many people in the state were said not to be happy with.
Also, every public school in the state had its uniform specially designed for it since establishment but Aregbesola as part of his education policy introduced single school uniform for all public schools in the state.
This aspect too did not go down well with many parents and alumni of the schools.
In the same vein, some schools that hitherto operated as either girls’ or boys’ schools were merged under the policy, thus, altering their cherished age long identity.
For Oyetola, the reversal of the policy was response to the yearnings of the people and in line with the citizens’ needs assessment conducted in the state last year.
He said the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission in partnership with Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), a programme of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (UK-DfID) went round the nooks and crannies of Osun State asking the residents to state what they wanted Oyetola’s administration to do for them and that DAWN Commission and PERL/DfID gave him the report of their findings.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Ismail Omipidan while featuring on a live radio programme “Frank Talk” in Osogbo said “there is no policy that is cast in stone”, adding that at any point in time the people desire change on any policy, the government of the day should look at it. He said, when Oyetola came on board, most of what people requested from the administration was to take another look at some of the educational policies.
Omipidan said “The Department of International Development (DFID), carried out citizen’s need assessment of Osun State independently without the government and stated in its report that the people of Osun State want certain policies of the government changed. One of what was stated was the issue of a single uniform policy. So we arrived where we are today based on the demands of the people and every responsible government must ensure that its programs and policies answer to the demands of its people.
“During the citizens’ needs assessment exercise, majority of residents demanded that the education policy must be reviewed and reversed. The team submitted the report to the governor and he promised to implement it.
“In fulfilling his promise, the Governor set up Education Review Panel led by Professor Olu Aina to look into the demands as contained in the report of the citizens’ needs assessment team.