Oyo to demolish dilapidated school buildings

THE Oyo state government has directed School Governing Boards (SGBs) to embark on a demolition of school buildings across the state that are abandoned and nearing collapse.

State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, handed down the directive during a meeting with officials of the Ministry, Directors, Zonal Inspectors of Education, Local Inspectors of Education and Principals, at State Secretariat, Ibadan.

Olowofela noted that the measure had become expedient because some of the weak, old and dilapidated structures across the 628 schools in the state had become “no go areas” for students and hideouts for criminals.

He added that the move to prevent casualty as the structures were bound to collapse.

To complement and existing infrastructure, Olowofela also disclosed that the state government had approved and initiated the process of renovating 100 schools with about N5billion comprising of N3 billion counterpart funding and N1.9 billion which is a combination of funds generated from the student’s levies and state government’s Internally Generated Revenue.

He specifically charged recently inaugurated education marshals to complement government’s investment in the education sector through adequate monitoring to ensure that teachers and students are alive to their responsibilities.