Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has recorded a significant milestone in the education sector by more than doubling the staff strength of public secondary schools across the state within six years of assuming office.

This was revealed by the Chairperson of the Oyo State Post Primary Schools Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Mrs. Olubukola Oladipo, during the ongoing Omituntun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing, held at the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Ibadan.

According to Oladipo, the workforce in Oyo State’s secondary schools has risen from 13,730 in 2019 when Governor Makinde assumed office to 26,436 as of 2024. The massive increase, she noted, is the result of sustained investments in the education sector, particularly in staff recruitment, school administration, and infrastructure.

The figure includes the recent recruitment of 7,500 teaching staff and 3,000 non-teaching staff carried out between 2024 and early 2025. This is in addition to the 10,500 staff recruited during the governor’s second term alone.

Oladipo emphasized that the expanded workforce is already yielding positive results, especially in terms of improved student performance in both internal and external examinations.

“In 2024 and early 2025, the recruitment of 7,500 teaching and 3,000 non-teaching staff took place to improve students’ academic performance. Beyond educational impact, this recruitment also created job opportunities for youths and contributed to raising the standard of living of thousands of households,” she said.

A statement from the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Sulaimon Olanrewaju, also highlighted the administration’s broader education reform initiatives, noting that Governor Makinde’s efforts have continued to reflect the priorities of his Omituntun 2.0 agenda, which focuses on expanding access to quality education and improving human capital development.

Oladipo further disclosed that, as part of Governor Makinde’s reforms, TESCOM has created four new educational zones to improve monitoring, supervision, and administration across secondary schools in the state.

“With the creation of four new zones by His Excellency, we now have ten educational zones in total: Ibadan Zones I, II, III, and IV; Oyo, Ogbomoso, Kishi, Saki, Eruwa, and Iseyin. This restructuring has brought school administration closer to the grassroots,” she explained.

The TESCOM chairperson also announced the creation of a new Directorate of Pension and Post Services, which she said was established to ensure more efficient handling of retiree matters within the commission. According to her, the directorate is already playing a vital role in improving post-service benefits and addressing concerns of retired staff.

To strengthen the leadership structure within the commission, ten Tutors-General/Permanent Secretaries have been appointed across the zones, in addition to a new Permanent Secretary at TESCOM’s headquarters. These appointments, Oladipo noted, have enhanced the effectiveness of supervisory and administrative roles in public schools.

On staff welfare, Oladipo stated that the government continues to provide vehicle loans to interested teaching and non-teaching staff across the ten zones. In a bid to ease access and eliminate long travel times, TESCOM has introduced an electronic payment system for car loans, replacing the manual cheque system that often required beneficiaries to travel to the state capital.

She said, “We introduced e-payment for the disbursement of car loans to reduce stress and promote convenience. This is part of our digitization efforts aimed at making government services more responsive.”

Oladipo also noted that TESCOM successfully conducted promotion exercises for eligible officers covering the period from 2017 to 2024 a move she said had lifted staff morale and enhanced productivity across schools.

She added that the government has maintained the payment of running grants to all 695 public secondary schools in the state. The grants are aimed at easing school-level administration and empowering principals to manage resources effectively.

Looking ahead, she announced that the commission is finalizing plans to organize specialized training programmes for all 695 secondary school principals in Oyo State. The goal, she explained, is to expose school leaders to modern, 21st-century school management techniques and global best practices.

“The training will focus on leadership, financial management, school safety, innovation, and effective communication. We want our principals to be equipped to lead schools that can compete globally,” she said.

The inter-ministerial briefing is part of Governor Seyi Makinde’s accountability framework, where heads of government agencies and ministries give public updates on the progress and impact of various initiatives under the Omituntun 2.0 administration.

Since assuming office in 2019, Governor Makinde has prioritized education as a cornerstone of his development agenda, with a strong focus on free basic education, improved learning environments, and continuous teacher recruitment and training.