The Executive Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, has declared Monday, 7th October 2024, as a work-free day for teachers in the state.
In honour of this year’s Teachers’ Day, schools in the state will resume academic activities on Tuesday, 8th October 2024.
The announcement was made by Governor Abiodun on Saturday during the Teachers’ Day celebration held at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, the state capital.
On Sunday, the Ogun State chapter of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools issued a notice to its members, reminding them of the holiday declared by the governor.
According to Punch, the copy of message shared on school platforms read, “This is to inform you that the Ogun State Government has declared Monday, October 7, 2024, as teachers’ holiday.
“In line with this directive, all schools are expected to observe the holiday
“Therefore, academic activities are suspended tomorrow. School resumes on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, as previously planned.”
During Saturday’s event, the governor approved the construction of 12 blocks of 900 smart classrooms across four schools, with one school selected from each zone in the state.
The schools benefiting from this initiative are Abeokuta Grammar School, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta; Ijebu-Ode Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode; Remo Secondary School, Sagamu; and Yewa College, Ilaro.
Governor Abiodun, while highlighting his administration’s achievements in the education sector, mentioned the introduction of the Ogun Digitalised Multimedia Lesson Plan which will provide teachers with the tools necessary to deliver standardised, digital lesson plans.
Also, he revealed that his administration has constructed a Central Education Management Information System for efficient data collection, analysis, and reporting.
Other notable accomplishments of his administration according to him include the approval of the Ogun State Education Intervention Fund, the successful conduct of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) using Optical Mark Reader (OMR) sheets, and the installation of ICT facilities in preparation for launching the Nigeria Learning Passport for digital educational content.
The governor also announced that efforts are underway to complete abandoned schools and projects from 2018 and 2019.
He said, “You recall that when I assumed office, this state had not accessed the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 funds. Shortly after I assumed office, we paid the counterpart funding for those four years, and we accessed the funding. The current funding we are implementing is for 2018 and 2019. What I noticed is that most of the contracts were abandoned because of inflation; the pricing was not realistic. That was my number one observation.
“My second observation was that despite all these interventions, every now and then, you would see an Ogun State school in the news. You would see Ogun State learners sitting on 9-inch blocks and learning in schools without roofs, despite the fact that we have accessed UBEC or SUBEB funding.
“I realised that something had to be wrong, and what was that? I realised that the schools that were being built were not the worst of the worst schools.
“We put a hold on the programme, and I set up a task force headed by the Head of Service, and I mandated them to go around the nooks and crannies of the state and identify the worst of the worst schools so that we are no longer embarrassed.
“I am pleased to announce to you that the new work plan for UBEC that reflects our peculiarities has now been approved. So, two things we will be achieving: all the abandoned schools and projects from the 2018 and 2019 plans will now have a methodology for rewarding and completing them, and the 2020 work plan will now reflect the worst of the worst schools.”
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then