Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s government in Ogun State says it plans to spend a sum of N7bn for the completion of some model schools across the three Senatorial Districts and another N2.50bn for the rehabilitation of 228 blocks of four classrooms each across the 20 local government areas and 37 LCDAs in the State with a view to providing conducive learning environment for pupils.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Sefiu Rasheed said this while defending the 2019 budget proposal of the Ministry before the members of the State House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation led by Hon Victor Fasanya at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
The Permanent Secretary said the State Government was committed to consolidating on the successes of its free and qualitative education programmes in the State and has therefore proposed a total budget of N16.15bn out of which N14.50bn would take care of capital projects and the remaining N1.65bn set aside for recurrent expenditure, with N2bn being proposed as revenue target for the period.
He noted that the Ministry during the outgoing year generated over N914m representing 73% of its revenue, promising to redouble its effort at providing equitable, qualitative and affordable education opportunities for students at all levels of education in the State.
Rasheed assured that government would continue to chart a revolutionary course in the education sector for the provision of social services as a foundation for the economic, industrial and social rejuvenation of the State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (SEEDS), just as scholarship and bursary award for all State indigenes in all tertiary institutions across the country in 2019 were being promptly given to deserving students.
In a related development, the Chairman, State Universal Basic Education, Alhaji Olatunde Okewole said the agency proposed a sum of N5.1bn to construct new classrooms in the Junior public primary schools next fiscal year to provide a more conducive environment for the acquisition of formal education with a view to increasing pupil enrolment thereby eliminating illiteracy in the society.
Okewole stated that more developmental policies would be evolved to ensure easy access to 9 years of formal basic education towards capturing all children of school age in full observation of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Law.
In view of the foregoing, the Chairman proposed a budget size of N18.14bn, out of which N17.5Bn was being earmarked for capital projects, while the remaining N645m was set aside for salaries and allowances with expected revenue of N21.48m.
Also, defending her agency budget for next year, the Chairman, State Teaching Service Commission, Chief Olabosipo Ogunsan said the commission is to employ a total of 3,000 teaching and 1, 000 non-teaching staff to boost its existing manpower for improved service delivery next year.
Other agencies that defended their budget proposals before the lawmakers included Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, State College of Health Technology, Ilese, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Tai Solarin University of Education, Tai Solarin College of Education, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, D.S Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic and State Institute of Technology, Igbesa amongst others.
Packaged by Hazeez Ayansola
