Obaseki orders closure of Edo pry school, relocation of pupils from dilapidated building

IN a move which looks like a desperate measure after video and photographs of the sorry state of the school went viral on social media, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki yesterday ordered the immediate shutdown of Aruosa Primary School, Benin City.

With roofs torn off by rainstorm many years ago and without desks and tables, the children were drenched right inside their classrooms, in the heavy downpour in the Edo state capital on Wednesday.

When Tribune Online visited the school, situated right behind Holy Aruosa Cathedral on the main street of Akpakpava, some teachers were seen herding the pupils who shivered in the midday downpour to nearby Agbado Primary School where they were relocated, pending the renovation of the dilapidated and unsafe structure.

The school was cordoned off with a red tape and persistent pleadings to be allowed to enter the premises were sternly rebuffed by a tough who said that the “order from above is that no journalist should be allowed to go near the school” and that “taking photographs of the school with the tape was also
forbidden.”

An electrical part dealer on Akpakpava street opposite the cathedral said that it is the grace of God that saved the pupils as the ramshackle school buildings are on the verge of collapse due to total neglect by the government.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie explained that the decision to relocate pupils of the school which is situated right in the heart of Benin was informed by the shocking reports that despite an earlier relocation order given by the state government, the teachers curiously ignored the order and went about their activities in the dilapidated structures.

Osagie said that all such schools, with dilapidated structures throughout the state, have been shut down with immediate effect, while the students and pupils in the affected schools have been relocated to other schools that will be announced soon.

According to him, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Osarodion Ogie visited Holy Aruosa Primary School as early as 7 in the morning on Thursday to announce the government’s decision.

“The state government has ordered an investigation to ascertain why the initial relocation order of the pupils with their teachers was not enforced.”

According to the spokesman, one of the allegations being investigated is the suspicion that some teachers, who refused to be transferred out of the school, selfishly kept those kids in the school under unsafe condition.

On the ongoing reform in the state’s education sector, Osagie said that “on assumption of office in November 2016, Obaseki ordered an inventory of facilities and the enumeration of primary and secondary schools in the state.

“After the census, the schools were categorised into three: those in grade A are in good condition; those in B need little intervention and schools in grade C require total renovation.

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“It is obvious that Holy Aruosa Primary School and Osula Primary School, among others, fell in the third category and require urgent attention. The worst of them like Holy Aruosa were shut down.”

He added: “As is the culture of this administration, groundwork has already begun for this renovation process to commence, as only few months ago bid rounds were held for the rehabilitation of some of these schools.

“The renovation work is expected to cover 1,200 public schools in the state, with the first batch of 230 schools captured in the pilot phase of the exercise.”

He lamented that despite the huge investment in remodelling most of the schools by the Adams Oshiomhole-led administration, “some of them have been vandalised, with facilities looted by hoodlums.”

To correct this anomaly, the governor spokesman said the Obaseki administration has made a commitment to partner communities hosting government projects such as schools and hospitals to ensure they are protected from vandals.

“We assure that work will soon commence at these schools within Benin metropolis and other parts of the state, and call on communities to protect the structures as soon as they’re built.

“The state government will expedite action on the renovation work to ensure that our pupils learn in a conducive environment, even as we roll out the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (Edo BEST) programme to some of these schools in coming weeks” Osagie added.