Rt. Hon Taiwo Olatunbosun, Ekiti State’s Commissioner for Information has assured that the disbursement of 641 million Naira to seven schools for renovation, through the World Bank’s Adolescent Girls Initiative For Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) program, will support Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s efforts to upgrade public school facilities to create better teaching and learning environments across the state.
The Commissioner while speaking at a forum in Ado Ekiti, explained that the funds are intended for upgrading science and ICT laboratories, blocks of classrooms, libraries, and halls, as well as constructing perimeter fences in the beneficiary schools.
He stated that the new disbursement came in the heels of the payment of a sum of 916.5Million Naira to 10 schools in 10 Local Government Areas last year which has transformed facilities in the schools.
Rt. Hon. Olatunbosun, who said that the new disbursement was for large schools that did not benefit in the earlier group.
He added that Government also disbursed over 30Million Naira as financial support to 2,808 indigent and vulnerable JSS and SSS students to complement its free compulsory education policy.
The Commissioner explained that the move was to empower indigent students to successfully complete their education with good grades without prejudice to the inability of their parents and guardians to provide the basic needs of students including safety, food, housing, financial health, and overall wellness.
Reiterating Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration’s commitment to providing access to quality education for all school-age children in Ekiti State, Rt. Hon. Olatunbosun emphasized that the financial support to indigent students under the World Bank Assisted Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) demonstrates the government’s dedication to offering high-quality, free, and compulsory education to children in the state.
The Commissioner said the Government’s gesture would also ensure that no child drops out of school or is left behind on account of inability of their parents to effectively play the expected roles in the education of their children.
According to him, “government interventions is premised on the fact that many parents have been unable to effectively provide food, clothing, decent shelter, medical care, school uniforms, books etc. to their children as a result of the prevailing national, global economic climate”.
Rt. Hon. Olatunbosun said that a sum of N20,000 was presented to each of the benefiting student in Junior Secondary Schools while those in the Senior Secondary Schools got N25,000 each adding that the sums would go a long way in supporting the indigent students to successfully complete their studies.
The Commissioner assured that the State Government would continue to pay WAEC/SSCE fees of students as part of efforts at ensuring a better future for secondary school students in the state without bias to other interventions.
Rt. Hon. Olatunbosun called on the benefitting students and their parents to judiciously utilize the funds for the education and well-being of their children in order to achieve the desired goal.