In furtherance of his administration’s commitment to improving the standard of education in Oyo State, Governor Seyi Makinde has disbursed the sum of N3.5billion educational support grants to 105 primary schools in rural areas across the three senatorial districts of the state.
Presenting the cheques to representatives of the beneficiary schools in Ibadan, the governor noted that despite challenges, the government had continued to rate education high and first in every of its policies.
The grant support is a World Bank Project under Better Education Service Delivery for All – Additional Funding (BESDA-AF), which the state is a beneficiary of; it is aimed at increasing equitable access for out-of-school children and improvement of literacy in focus states.
It also seeks to strengthen accountability for results in basic education in Nigeria.
The governor who spoke through his deputy, Barr Bayo Lawal explained that the grant was meant for the renovation of primary schools with critical attention, saying that the renovation exercise will commence simultaneously in all the 105 schools.
While congratulating the schools benefiting from the educational support grant, he charged them to avoid doing shoddy jobs and ensure that all the projects are in accordance with the prescriptions so that the pupils can benefit and appreciate government efforts in the education sector.
He said: “This is in furtherance of the record of Oyo State government at ensuring that education comes on the front burner in the activities of the state government.
“A couple of months back, it was in this conference room that presentations were made by representatives of the World Bank and other critical stakeholders as to how to assist in improving the standard of education in the state.
“I recall that the major requirement was for the state government to put in its counterpart funding, which has been done.
“This is to let all of us know that despite various challenges the state government is facing, the current administration still puts education on the front burner. Education is taking almost 21 per cent of the state’s annual budget.”
Earlier, the commissioner, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Prof Saliu Adelabu, explained that the project is a form of educational grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in collaboration with the World Bank and it involves three states in the country; Oyo, Adamawa and Katsina.
