Amosun’s giant stride in education
It is not a gainsaying the fact that Ogun state, for ages, has comparative advantages and enviable record of educational achievements over other states in Nigeria.
Having realised this and as a way of protecting the unprecedented and proud legacy, the present administration in Ogun, led by Senator Ibikunle Amosun, gave priority to education which informed his ‘Free Qualitative and Affordable Education’ policy as the first in its five cardinal programme.
Governor Amosun, who believes that once education is sought out, all other things becomes easier, sworn into action by offsetting WAEC fees it inherited and has consistently paid the (WAEC) fees for final-year students of public secondary schools in the State since its inauguration in May, 2011, invested heavily in the rebuilding of schools infrastructure, to make learning conducive for students, training and motivation of personnel which has encouraged pupils to excel. All these were made possible because the sector has been allotted the largest percentage of the state annual budget.
In a bid to also ensure that no child is left behind regardless of his/her economic background, the states government abolished Tuition fees and all forms of levies for all students in primary and secondary schools in the State and distributed free textbooks to pupils of public primary and secondary schools.
Also, the Amosun led administration constructed 15 state-of-the-art model schools out of a planned total of 28 across the State and has commissioned seven (7) at Kobape, Onijaganjangan, Akinale, Sagamu, Ikenne, Ado-Odo and Ago-Iwoye Model Schools. Each school is designed to accommodate 1,000 students and over 200 teaching and non-teaching staff. The first ever Summer Camp equally took place from August 14th-28th, 2016, at the Model School (Akin Ogunpola Model School), Akinale, in Ewekoro Local Government.
Other giant’s strides includes; continuous renovation and erection of new structures in the existing schools, introduction of Unified Examination in Public Secondary Schools, Government Science & Technical Colleges and Government Vocational Training Centres in Ogun State, regularized the appointment of teachers whose careers had stagnated for years and promoted thousands due for the exercise for several years.
Apart from payment of teachers’ salaries as and when due, the Amosun government for the first time in the history of the State, primary school teachers receive their salaries before other workers. This is beside the fact that the Amosun government not only pays above the Minimum Wage, but implemented the increase across board and up to the local government level, thus making it the only administration to achieve such a feat in Nigeria.
All these even development in the Ogun state education sector has earned the state awards to include; the 2015 Fafunwa Educational Foundation award, as the state with the highest percentage budgetary allocation to education, OOU was also adjudged the Best State University in Nigeria by the National Universities Commission in 2014 and 2016 based on its outstanding performance in the areas of Excellent in University infrastructure development and management; Expertise in University academic, non-academic staff recruitment pattern; Competent in student admission administration, training and development; Proficiency in University asset protection and security staff management; Campus general performance; operational excellence and management Compliance with professional codes; ethical standards and strategy Compliance with government regulatory laws and guidelines.
In complementing the efforts of the state Government in this sector, the wife of the Governor, Dr (Mrs) Olufunso Amosun, under her Uplift Development Foundation introduced the Uplift SS3 students’ initiative, under which the best SS3 students from each of the 20 local government areas of the state are taken abroad for leadership training.
However, I wish to commend Ogun state government on its rebuilding mission particularly its efforts at changing the comatose state of the education sector to an enviable one among the comity of states. Temitayo M. Taylor, Abeokuta, Ogun state.