The Oyo State Government, on Tuesday, began the distribution of sporting kits to public primary schools across the State.
The select 82 primary schools across the three senatorial districts of the State are to get handball goalposts and nets, skipping ropes, table-tennis bats and nets, handballs, and badminton rackets among others.
At the flagoff held at the headquarters of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Ibadan, the board’s co-ordinating director, Mr Jacob Dairo said the state government embarked on the distribution with the aim of developing interest in sports from the primary school level.
This, he said, was targeted at having residents of the state that will dominate sporting events at the national level.
Dairo said the distribution was a collaboration between the Oyo State government, through Oyo SUBEB, and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
Dairo asserted that the board was poised to catch them young and take school sports to enviable heights in Nigeria.
In light of this, the co-ordinating director said the Oyo State Government will organise a sporting competition among schools at local and Zonal levels, whereby the overall winner will represent the State at national competitions.
Dairo charged the benefitting schools to take care of the items delivered to them, urging them to make proper use of the equipment for the purpose for which it is meant.
Also, Dairo state that the state government has approved the commencement of the Agricultural Education Training Programme for 73 primary schools across the State.
He said the programme will see the training of education Secretaries, Heads of Section, schools services of each local government, Headteachers, Agricultural studies teachers, and School Based Management Committee (SBMC) representatives from different local governments.
Those trained will, in turn, will train pupils in crop farming, snailery, and livestock farming.
Dairo said that a monitoring team will go around the schools to ensure that funds allocated for the training programme were properly utilized.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State Chapter, Mr Raji Oladimeji applauded the initiatives put in place by the State government for pupils.
The NUT Chairman decried that sporting activities were virtually moribund in schools due to the topography of the land in most schools.
He said the development will resuscitate the almost-moribund sporting activities in most public primary schools.
Also, the Chairman, Association of Primary School Headteachers of Nigeria, AOPSHON, Oyo State branch, Comrade Adedeji Adekunle urged trainees to pay full attention to the teachings.
On his part, the zonal chairman, School-based management committee, Egbeda Local Government, Mr Adegbite Omoniyi said the agricultural training will encourage younger ones to participate in agriculture.
He said the SBMC and other stakeholders were committed to the new project that will accelerate agricultural development in schools.
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