Ekiti primary school where classes are merged due to dilapidation

Despite huge investment by successive governments and the incumbent administration on basic education in Ekiti State, ‘YOMI AYELESO reports that St Mary’s Nursery and Primary School, Ikere-Ekiti, headquarters of Ikere Local Government Area, is facing dire infrastructural challenge that demands urgent attention from stakeholders in the state in the interest of the pupils.

The Ekiti State governor, Biodun Oyebanji, while giving an address marking his 200 days in office recently, said his administration since inception in October 2022, had released the sum of N1.2 billion to the Ekiti State Universal Basic Education as matching grant for 2022 Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) fund for capital projects in schools.

However, a visit to some of the schools in the state suggests the need for the government and its agencies to urgently intervene in providing conducive learning facilities for the pupils.

When the Nigerian Tribune visited St Mary RCM Nursery and Primary School located in Araromi area of Ikere-Ekiti, the poor condition of blocks of classrooms in the school were glaring. The dilapidated buildings with the roof blown off suggested the difficulties and unpleasant experience being faced by both the pupils while learning and the teachers, while impacting knowledge.

Even though the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) described learning in a convenient and conducive environment as a fundamental right of pupils, this appears not to be the case in St Mary RCM School established in 1976.

Nigerian Tribune also gathered that this situation has forced the school management to merge majority of the pupils and classes into the few classrooms still in manageable condition, though not conducive.  From the kindergarten to the nursery class and the primary classes, the students are exposed to inconveniences, just as the teachers battle to impact knowledge in a not-too-conducive environment.

In the school, there is one block of three classrooms with an office constructed under the UBEC/SUBEB project in 2021, which is obviously not enough for the entire pupils in the school. Only pupils in primary four to six make use of the relatively new building, even though the entire block is without a functional toilet. The pupils, both female and male, defecate in the surrounding bushes, while the teachers run to nearby homes for their convenience.

It was also discovered that due to the poor infrastructural facilities, the enrolment level of the school has drastically reduced. The school currently boasts of less than 300 pupils across all the classes as parents and guardians have been withdrawing their wards from the school.

The headmistress, Mrs Julianah Omoseeye, told Nigerian Tribune that teaching and learning have been made difficult due to the poor condition of classrooms, calling on government and other stakeholders to assist the school in the interest of the young pupils.

She lamented that whenever it rains, the teachers would have to move and merge the pupils in few of the classrooms in good condition. This, she said, has been slowing down learning and other activities during school hours.

Aside from the dearth in classrooms, Mrs Omoseeye solicited the support of the government in erecting perimeter fencing in the school for security reasons and provision of other educational facilities to boost the enrolment level.

She said, “We have been facing difficult times here in this school due to the lack of adequate classrooms since I was posted here in 2019 as headmistress.

“As you can see, the classrooms are not enough for the pupils to learn and the few ones are not convenient as we have to merge the classes. Instead of separating them for easy learning, we merge kindergarten classes one and two, and also nursery classes of one and two.  Primary two and three pupils are also affected. Only primary four to six are better.

“Whenever there is sign of rainfall, we are always apprehensive because of the pupils. It is always difficult managing the situation. For this reason, most of the parents have been taking their children away from the school and we can’t blame them because we are parents too. It is only those who can endure that still remain.

“I want to use this opportunity to plead with our governor, Biodun Oyebanji, who has been doing well since he came, to assist us by building or renovating the old classrooms because of the pupils.”

On his part, the chairman of the school’s Parents and Teachers’ Association (PTA), Pastor Joseph Ayodele, who described as unpleasant the situation of classrooms in the school, however, expressed optimism that the governor, when informed, would come to their aid.

Ayodele said, “On behalf of the entire parents, I am here pleading with the government to help renovate the old and dilapidated buildings if new buildings cannot be built. Even when there is no rain, the classrooms are not conducive for learning because most of the classes are merged into the few classrooms still manageable for learning.”

On the implications of the dilapidated building on the number of pupils, the cleric said, “Even myself, if I am bringing my child afresh, I won’t put him here because conducive learning environment is needed for every child.

“I have heard good testimony about our new governor and I know if he hears about the condition of this school, he will do more than our expectation and we are appealing to him to help us, being a governor and indeed a father.”

Efforts by the Nigerian Tribune to speak with the chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Professor Femi Akinwumi, were unsuccessful as repeated calls made to his line in the one week prior to the filing of this report were not answered. Also, the SUBEB boss did not reply text messages sent to his line.

The Education Secretary in Ikere Local Government Area, Femi Gbenro, in a chat with the Nigerian Tribune said his office was aware of the present situation of the school, noting that the state government would soon renovate all dilapidated buildings in the school and others.

Gbenro said, “I am aware of the situation in the school and we are making frantic efforts to get them a building. The school is one of the top priority schools we have when it comes to reconstruction and renovation. We have other schools like that around here but St Mary is of greater priority.”

When asked how soon the renovation will commence, the Education Secretary said, “They are doing bidding for this year’s construction and renovation at the moment and I believe that school is one of the schools that will be attended to by the SUBEB.

“I must confess that the headmistress of the school has been doing well in this regard in recent times by going to the SUBEB and telling them about the situation of the school. We are working on it and we will not relent.”

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