Govt, Alumni Must Address Poor Facilities in Primary Schools, Says Monarch

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

A traditional ruler, the Onise of Odo Oro-Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Oba Babatunde Jemilehin, has expressed regret over infrastructure decay in some schools, saying it contributes to the nosediving of education standard in the country.

The monarch appealed to the state government to renovate the dilapidated classrooms in some primary schools, saying no country can have a strong education system when the basic education is abandoned.

He stated this in Odo Oro-Ekiti last Saturday, during the handing-over of a renovated block of three classrooms at St Thomas Catholic Primary School built by the Old Students of the school, to the government.

Oba Jemilehin, who lamented the unpleasant experiences of the pupils under the deplorable classrooms, especially during rainy season, said solid and conducive infrastructures remained one of the ways to measure the standard of education in any society.

Commending the old students for the timely gesture of renovating the block of classrooms as the pupils resume for the new academic session, he reiterated the need for the state government to act fast in giving the pupils a befitting and conducive learning environment.

According to him, “The buildings in the primary school have been in very terrible dilapidated forms for a long while. That has been a source of concern to not only the school management, but also to me as the traditional ruler of the town, and the generality of the Odo Oro Ekiti indigenes.

“The harrowing experiences the pupils go through to study in such a deplorable condition and the effects on their psychology as they visit other schools with good structures cannot be over emphasised. Their teachers too are not left out in the trauma of teaching pupils drenched whenever it rains.

“It is in the spirit of this understanding that I am making this passionate appeal to the government to come to the aid of our primary schools in Odo Oro Ekiti.”

The Coordinator of the Old Students Association, Prince Segun Okunoye, said there was need for the government and other stakeholders in the education sector to save the school from total neglect in the interest of the young pupils.

Okunoye explained that the old students were moved by the pictures and videos of pupils learning under the deplorable structures, and decided to pull resources together to renovate the block of three classrooms.

He noted that there was need for the people to collaborate with the government in improving the standard of education, especially the basic, adding that the government should be deliberate in attending to the other blocks for the pupils to be motivated in learning.