By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan.
Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Joseph Adeniyi Olowofela has hinted that the proposed new education policy of public-private participation in the management of secondary schools in the state is to redeem the schools and set them on the path of true development.
Professor Olowofela who said this in Ibadan during a chat with journalists on the new Oyo state government policy on Education declared that the gesture was designed to bring private partners into the running of schools.
He declared that it was glaring that no serious government would fold its hands and allows gross inefficiency in a critical sector like education, saying, already, a Committee on Restructuring of Education set by the government has submitted its report to the government for action.
The Commissioner while stressing that partnership in schools is still on in the state added that what the present administration was waiting for was the Committee to conclude its findings and hopefully government would work with the report assiduously to ensure efficiency and quality delivery in the system.
Professor Olowofela said the major problem facing schools in Oyo state especially the primary schools “is over staffing”, saying, “for example, during a routine check, we discovered that in one of the Primary schools, in its primary one, we have four teachers in that class. And this is what we have all over, many teachers in a class. What we will have is poor delivery, inefficiency and duplication of work”.
“There will be distractions and the teachers will not be focused. This is what has led us to where we are now. And many people do not know why Oyo State students’ performance has gone that low. The NUT went on strike based on pre -conceived notion. We are partnering with core stakeholders to bring back the lost glory in our schools,” he said.
Professor Olowofela added, “we have today the Old students Associations taking very active role in repositioning the schools, donating school buildings, renovating and equipping the laboratories and so on. This is what we call private partnership.
Government cannot do it alone rather we are inviting concerned bodies to invest in education to give our children sound and quality education”.
