Osun relishes 1,724 classrooms milestone

With the inauguration of the AUD Elementary School in Isale Osun, Osogbo, last Thursday, the Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, said the government has constructed 1,724 ultra modern classrooms in 39 schools in the state.

The event attracted a large crowd of parents and others in their thousands who wanted a glimpse of the state-of-the-art school that can accommodate about 1,000 pupils.

The school boasts of 28 classrooms, hall, sickbay, staff room, grassed courtyard, basketball court with an area fitted with swings, and recreational toys.

Aregbesola reiterated that the policies and programmes of his administration have been deeply steeped in vision, well-oiled by passion, and firmly backed by action.

He noted that as far as education in Osun is concerned, the government is on a mission to develop the greatest asset in nature and the human mind. He said the inauguration of another new model school is a sign of the administration’s serious intent to completely remake the public education system in the state.

By the time the state is done, the governor said public schools would compare favourably with private schools.

Aregbesola said: “When I assumed office as the governor of the state, I had a vision of what the future of education in Osun public school should be like. It is a vision that sees our public sector education on a comparable level with what obtains in the most educationally advanced parts of the world.

“It is towards the realisation of this vision that the energy and attention of my government have been resolutely focused. It is a vision that we intend to see through without minding the obstacles in our path.

“This education mission is solely driven by public interest without preference for any private interest, be it religious or otherwise. As I said during the last elementary school commissioning in Ile-Ife, the goal of our education policy is bringing about human advancement and progress, which are desires that are common to all members of the human family.”

He emphasised that the education policy mission is driven by public interest without preference for any private interest, be it religious or otherwise. Aregbesola stressed that the overriding purpose of Osun education policy is to give children what it takes to be masters of their environment, adding that government sees nothing wrong with the policy and that it is the right thing to do.

The governor called on detractors of the education policy to change their mindset, because government is not about to change course.

Also speaking, the Deputy Governor, who is also the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, said the spate of works done on the schools reform in the state have confirmed to the people that the current administration is focused on its mission of salvaging the battered education sector as a result of many years of neglect.

“Today, we are witnessing the fulfilment of one of the promises of the governor before he came in. Since the commencement of the reforms programme of this administration, we have built 1,724 classrooms in 39 schools throughout the state. And the job continues this government is determined to ensure that there is a level playing field in the education of our children in Osun,” Tomori said.