240,000 out-of-school children in Ondo — SUBEB Chairman

The Chairman of the Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Rt. Hon. Victor Olabimtan, has expressed concern over the alarming number of out-of-school children in the state.

Olabimtan disclosed that no fewer than 240,000 out-of-school children have been discovered in the state, describing the development as a time bomb that must be addressed immediately.

He said these out-of-school children had been identified across the local government areas of the state after visiting communities and every village in the state

Olabimtan, who stated this while speaking with journalists in Akure, the state capital, however, said the state government has commenced efforts to reverse the trend in the state.

He said the board would soon introduce mechanisms to ensure all children in the state were educated.

He stated that part of the measures by the state government is to employ more teachers in primary schools and make the school attractive to the pupils.

According to him, “From the statistics, Ondo has 240,000 out-of-school children. This is alarming, but it is not happening only in Ondo State; that is how we have the problem in other states of the federation.”

He said about 900 public primary schools had been renovated or constructed in order to make the learning environment conducive to the learning of the pupils.

“As part of the efforts to combat the growing menace of out-of-school children in the state, UBEC, in conjunction with Ondo SUBEB, organised weeks-long trainings for stakeholders in the sector on the Basic Attendance Management Information System.

“The training was very successful, as over 900 schools provided digital devices for the attendance management of pupils in classrooms.

“This is to be done side by side with the traditional means of attendance marking through the use of daily registers.

“To ensure seamless operations of devices and effectiveness of the project education secretaries, Zonal and Area Education Officers and Education Management Information System officers also underwent training.”

The chairman also stated that the board had been able to do the renovation of the schools and provide educational materials for the pupils from the UBEC fund after the state had been able to pay its counterpart fund of N3.9 billion.

“When this government came on stream on February 24, 2017, the state of infrastructure and quality of curriculum in most of our schools were nothing to write home about.

“Most of the structures in our primary schools were in a state of despair, becoming a haven for dangerous reptiles, men of the underworld, and miscreants who have taken over schools as their homes, thereby endangering the lives of the pupils and the teachers alike.

“This was the situation the present government inherited, and the government latched onto the opportunity by paying the matching grants put at over N3.9 billion with an additional amount from UBEC.

“The government was able to turn around the narrative for the better. With the fund, the board has been able to construct, reconstruct, and rehabilitate over 900 classrooms, fences, bolt holes, and toilets, providing learners chairs and desks, tables for their teachers, ECCD equipment, sporting equipment, as well as instructional materials for pupils and their teachers valued at over N2.2 billion to make our schools more attractive for both teaching and learning.”

He explained that the effects of the capital invested in education by the state government had been yielding positive results in the performance of teachers and pupils in the internal and external examinations.

“Last year, our students performed excellently at a National JET Competition in faraway Nasarawa State, where they came first and third in both primary and junior secondary school categories, respectively,” he said