The Oyo State Government is set to commence a fresh round of massive classroom construction and renovation projects across all 33 Local Government Areas of the state, the Executive Chairman of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Nureni Adeniran, has disclosed.
Adeniran made this known while speaking at the Omituntun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing, held at the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Media, Mr. Sulaimon Olanrewaju, the SUBEB chairman confirmed that the board has secured necessary approvals to execute a new round of projects in public basic schools across the state.
Dr. Adeniran said the interventions, which will cover both primary and junior secondary schools, align with the Makinde administration’s continued efforts to address infrastructure gaps and improve the quality of education at the foundational level.
Highlighting achievements under Governor Makinde’s administration, he said between 2019 and 2023, the government promptly paid counterpart funds for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), enabling Oyo SUBEB to embark on various physical and human development projects across the education sector.
“In the first phase of intervention, we trained 13,859 teaching and non-teaching staff, constructed 289 blocks of classrooms, built 60 model schools, renovated 229 classrooms, procured 22,962 desks and benches, 1,189 teachers’ furniture, drilled 138 boreholes and purchased 33 motorcycles, 30 desktop computers, and 33 digital tablets,” Adeniran said.
He added that more than 60,000 out-of-school children have returned to classrooms in the state, a major gain of the administration’s vision for equitable access to basic education.
The SUBEB chairman further revealed that the government has also paid counterpart funds for 2022 and 2023, amounting to over ₦2.6 billion, enabling the board to roll out new interventions across all LGAs.
The newly approved projects include the construction of 41 classroom blocks, renovation of 60 existing blocks, building of seven perimeter fences, drilling of 30 boreholes, and provision of 5,828 pupils’ desks and benches, 473 teachers’ tables and chairs, and 910 units of sports equipment.
In addition to the UBEC-assisted projects, Adeniran announced that the state will also embark on a separate round of classroom development projects using funds received from the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) reward initiative, a Federal Government programme that rewards states that successfully reduce the population of out-of-school children.
“Through the BESDA reward fund, Governor Makinde has directed that all monies be invested in upgrading infrastructure in public primary schools across the state,” he said.
Under the BESDA-funded intervention, the board will construct 28 new classroom blocks, renovate 29, build four-compartment toilets with deep wells, drill 16 boreholes with tanks and stands, and supply 2,922 desks and benches and 182 teachers’ tables and chairs.
Dr. Adeniran reaffirmed the board’s commitment to implementing these projects promptly and transparently, stressing that the interventions would significantly boost learning outcomes and improve the teaching environment in the state’s public basic schools.
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