Friday, March 29, 2024

Gov Aregbesola inaugurates N1.3bn school in own town

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State on Tuesday inaugurated a world class high school in Ilesa, his hometown, charging teachers and parents to ensure improvement in the performance of students in internal and external examinations.
Addressing the multitude, who gathered at newly inaugurated Ilesa Government High School, Aregbesola said the project gulped N1.3billion.
The governor, who also launched the distribution of “Kaadi Omoluabi” at the event, said the dedication of the school complex and the “Kaadi Omoluabi” were two notable achievements of his administration.
He said, “After our inauguration in November 2010, one of the issues that became of serious concern for us was education. This is because what we met on ground was confounding. Many of the pupils were living like animals. This school, in particular, was notorious as a den of gangsters and juvenile cultists.
“It was not surprising then that the first SSSCE examination result that came immediately after our assumption of office confirmed our worst fears. Only 15.7 per cent passed the examination; that is, obtained five credits and above, including in English and Mathematics.
“By February of the following year, we held an education summit presided over by Prof. Wole Soyinka. All our interventions in education have come from the report of that summit. One key point in the report is the environment of learning. A run-down dilapidated school structure cannot be conducive to learning. Our immediate task was to reclassify the schools into elementary, middle and high schools. Elementary Schools will be for the old primary 1-4, Middle School will include primary 5-6 and JSS1-3 while SSS1-3 becomes High School. We then put in place a policy to construct brand new state-of-the-art 100 Elementary Schools, 50 Middle Schools and 20 High Schools. Out of these, 20 Elementary Schools, 22 Middle Schools and 11 High Schools, including the one we are inaugurating today, have been completed.
Continuing, the governor said, “In the High School category, we began the inauguration train with Wole Soyinka Government High School, in Ejigbo. Then we moved to Osogbo Government High School, Osogbo (formerly Osogbo Grammar School). This was followed by Adventist Government High School Ede (formerly Seventh Day Adventist Grammar School) from where we moved to Ataoja Government High School, Osogbo (formerly Ataoja School of Science).
“Now we are here, in Ilesa, the City of God, in this beautiful complex, a theatre of dreams, to celebrate the hope of a better tomorrow for our children. For the pupils and teachers of this school, even more for the government, this is a dream come true. To God be the glory.
“Actually, its a 3,000 capacity three-in-one school. Each school has its principal with an overall senior principal. The complex has 72 Classrooms of 49 square-meters each capable of sitting 49 students, 6 offices for study groups, 6 laboratories, 18 toilets for young ladies, 18 toilets for young men, 1 Science library, 1 Art Library, 1 Facility manager’s office, 1 Bookshop, 1 Sick Bay, 1 Bursar’s office, 3 Principals’ offices, 3 General Staff office, 1 Senior principal’s office, 1 Record store and 1 Security shed/Reception.
“As a government, we have played our own part very well and we will do more if the need should arise. It is now left for parents and teachers to do their own part. Parents should provide the right examples to their children at home. They should let them realise the importance of education and that there is no reliable future outside of it.
“They should, therefore, prepare their children for school at the right time, help them dress properly and acceptably and prevent them from truancy. Teachers should resume fully their role in the making of a completely educated person in learning and character. A teacher should deem himself or herself (and will be so adjudged by society) to have failed if his or her ward should fail examinations and be found wanting in character. Teachers, especially, should show interest in the physical appearance of their pupils. It is very disheartening to see pupils in tattered, dirty, unironed and ill-fitting uniforms. Grooming is an important aspect of education. A teacher should be proud of the physical looks of their pupils.”

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