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Dilapidated secondary school buildings in Oyo state would be pulled down in the coming days as the state government has directed the School Governing Boards (SGBs) in all the 628 Public Secondary Schools in the state to do so as a way to avoid imminent collapse.
The Oyo State commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, disclosed this on Monday during this month’s statutory meeting where issues affecting education were discussed.
The meeting which was held at the Conference room, Ministry of Education, Agodi Government Secretariat, Ibadan had in attendance, the Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Directors, Zonal Inspectors of Education (ZIEs) , Local Inspectors of Education (LIEs) and Principals of ministry control Schools.
Olowofela said the old buildings have also been turned in to a safe haven for hoodlums and criminals, therefore needed to be pulled down as the state government decided to fund the construction of new buildings to replace them.
His words: These buildings are dangerous and as a ‘no go areas’ for students and therefore the government is issuing this directive because the government is proactive and can’t afford to wait for a bad incidents to happen before taking necessary steps”.
According to the commissioner, more worrisome is that these old school buildings are now becoming havens for unsuspecting criminals, saying “the buildings can be used by criminals to perpetuate criminal acts like raping young girls ”.
Olowofela added that the governor has approved the construction and rehabilitation of no fewer than 100 secondary schools across the 33 local government areas in the state based on needs and strategic locations.
The Commissioner, therefore described the Education Inspectors as influencers while he urged them to complement government huge investment in the education sector through adequate monitoring to ensure that teachers and students are alive to their responsibilities.