We’ll upgrade 511 secondary schools to model colleges, says Ogun govt

The Ogun State Government, on Friday, disclosed its readiness to upgrade 511 secondary schools to model schools under the state’s flagship schools initiative.

This was stated by the State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Abayomi Arigbagbu, at a meeting with stakeholders in the education sector of the state, in Abeokuta.

According to him, 42 out of the schools have been upgraded into model schools while others are waiting for upgrading.

Arigbagbu noted that the Governor Dapo Abiodun administration since it came on board, had renovated no fewer than 950 schools and equally provided over 25,000 desks and benches.

The meeting had in attendance the state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers and that of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Comrades Abiodun Akintola and Akeem Lasisi respectively, and representatives of higher institutions in the state.

The commissioner noted that the provision of desks and benches for schools was basically to cushion the effects of the shortage of furniture in the schools.

He submitted that the last administration left the educational sector in shambles, while the present administration had achieved a total overhaul of the sector.

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“We have compiled a list of all schools that need intervention. We have renovated 960 schools and we have supplied over 25,000 tables and chairs to reduce and cushion the effects of the shortage of furniture in our schools.

“We have also upgraded and recategorised our schools, this is a new initiative in Ogun State which we call the Flagship School Initiative. This initiative means that we are not starting model colleges from the scratch but we want to turn our colleges into model colleges.

“We are going to all the 511 secondary schools in Ogun State and will make them be model colleges. Now we have 42 of those schools, we want to solve the problem in our education sector. The 42 flagship schools are spread across the three senatorial districts of the state and to enter the school, there is usually screening test.

Arigbabu said the state government would make provisions for new schools and build more classrooms in existing schools to accommodate more students.

“To achieve this, we have given ourselves a six years goal plan, and we expect to establish more schools and build more classrooms. We are working towards having a maximum of 40 pupils in a class,” he added.

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We’ll upgrade 511 secondary schools to model colleges, says Ogun govt