Rumples in Kwara over deplorable state of public schools
STAKEHOLDERS in Kwara State are currently at loggerheads over deplorable infrastructure in government schools.
This followed a recent British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC) Yoruba documentary on a public school in the state where some pupils of LGEA Primary School, Kankan in Asa local government, were learning on a bare floor under the tree.
The report is already generating ripples between the Abdulrahman Abdulrazak- led All Progressive Congress ( APC) administration and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) over the portrayed sorry state of infrastructure in the school, and by extension, other public schools in the state.
In the documentary, the reporter alleged that due to a lack of infrastructure, pupils were forced to learn under the tree despite the harsh weather conditions.
The headmistress, Mrs Iyabo Babatunde, while acknowledging government’s efforts in renovating schools across the state, lamented that about 165 of her pupils don’t have the needed tools to learn, and had to resort to sitting on the bare floor to learn under the tree. “Anytime it rains, we send the pupils home, and that ends the day’s learning,” she added in the video.
The PDP, in a statement by its publicity secretary, Olusegun Adewara, said the report has exposed the failure of Governor Abdulrazaq’s administration in the education sector.
The party subsequently challenged the governor to publish figures of UBEC counterpart funds since 2014.
But Kwara State Chairman of Universal Basic Education Board ( SUBEB), Prof. Sheu Adaramaja, accused the BBC reporter of doing a shoddy investigation, saying neither his office nor any concerned agency was contacted before airing the controversial report.
He accused some disgruntled persons in the state of sponsoring the campaign of calumny against the present administration, pointing out that there was nowhere in the documentary where the government’s reaction was captured.
Though he admitted that some of the schools are in a dilapidated state, the SUBEB boss accused the last administration of neglecting the sector in the last eight years of its rule. He alleged that throughout his tenure, immediate past governor Abdulfatah Ahmed failed to pay its UBEC counterpart fund between 2013 and 2019, thus depriving public schools in the state of the needed resources for teaching and learning.
“Had it been that the last administration invested in basic education, we wouldn’t be where we are today with this kind of problems,” Adaramaja said.
He explained that the present administration, on the assumption of office, cleared the outstanding N7.1 billion counterpart fund, and resumed payment of monthly funds, which enabled the state to access N14.2 billion for the development of basic education in the state. “There are 2,887 public schools in Kwara State, we have fixed over 1,000 schools, and plans are underway to fix others, including Kankan,” the SUBEB chief assured.