Following the presentation of the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the Oyo State House of Assembly by Governor Seyi Makinde, the Chairman House Committee on Education, Hon. Oluwafemi Oluwafowokanmi has assured the people of the state that his committee will ensure judicious implementation of funds allocated to education in the budget.
Hon. Fowokanmi, who is representing Ibadan South West state constituency II in the House gave the assurance while reacting to the share of 22.37 percent earmarked for education, the second highest after works with 23.93 percent in the budget.
He described the decision of the governor to give education priority as a genuine commitment towards improving the state’s standard of education.
The lawmaker disclosed that failure to prioritize education sector by past administrations lead to the accumulation of decay that the state is witnessing now. Fowokanmi, however, assured that with the huge chunk of the budget targeted towards education, the sector will witness lots of positive changes.
He expressed the readiness of the present administration in Oyo State to give attention to primary education in order to rebuild the collapsing foundation of quality and standard in the sector.
His words, “if the foundation is not solid, any structure on it cannot last, and that is why these days, you see graduates who cannot express themselves in simple English, because the primary education was faulty.
“I promise you, and on behalf of the entire 9th assembly members, that we are not here for joke. It is like God gathered us together for a mission. In our committee, education and as the chairman, we will perform our oversight functions to make sure that these schools are revived to their former glory, and so that by this time next year, people can see the effect of the budget allocation”
Reacting to the poor performance of students in external examinations like WAEC over the years, Hon. Fowokanmi said that the present government in Oyo State has put measures in place to aid studies and performance of the senior secondary school students.
According to him, “The state is already carrying on a project where past questions on ten (10) subjects are being worked on to be given to S.S.3 students across the state. These past questions are not meant only for public school students, as the Governor has promised that, the generous hand will be stretched to private schools –as far as you are an Oyo state indigene in S.S.3 class, you have the right to the past questions.”
He maintained that his committee will ensure that the past questions are circulated to all schools in the state to ensure that by next year, the ranking of Oyo state in WAEC moves to a better position.
Hon. Oluwafowokanmi added that in addition to the past question measure, the government will also ensure that qualified teachers rather than quacks are recruited this time around.
“By January when the recruitment takes place, you will see that those that will be engaged will have degrees in education, unlike what we had in the past, people who do not have teaching skills were given the chance to guide our students. Anybody that wants to teach now must have B.Ed. or NCE,” he concluded.
Packaged by Kunle Gazali
