OGUN TO SPEND N2.94B ON CONSTRUCTION OF 260 CLASSROOMS, LABORATORIES NEXT YEAR

 Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu says the State government is to build a total of 260 units of classrooms, and eight workshops/science laboratories across the State, amounting to N2.94b in the next fiscal year.

Arigbabu, who disclosed this while taking his turn to defend the Ministry's 2021 budget proposal, before the State House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation led by Hon. Olakunle Sobunkanla at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, added that N1b was being set aside for the rehabilitation of existing structures in public schools.

The Commissioner, while presenting the total budget size of N7.81b for the Ministry, noted that the estimate contained the capital expenditure of N5.4b and the remaining N2.4b would cater for recurrent expenditure, while the revenue target was put at N1.14b, explaining that a sum of N930m was proposed for educational programmes for the same period.

He outlined the educational programmes to include payment for bursary, scholarship, West Africa Examination Council, National Business and Technical Examination, Basic Education Certificate Examination, Unified Examination, establishment of multilingual resource centre and provision of modern equipment, among others.

Arigbabu said there was existing directive to Zonal Educational Officers (ZEOs), to improve on their database through regular on-the-spot assessment of all schools under their respective domains, expressing optimism that the Educational Management Information System (EMIS), was capable of giving up-to-date and accurate information about schools across the State.

Intimating the lawmakers that the Ministry had slashed the levies payable by private schools by 50percent, to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on their operations, Arigbabu added that more measures would be formulated by the Ministry to improve on quality assurance for public and private schools, with more improvement on infrastructural facilities for all categories of schools irrespective of their locations in the State.

On his part, the Provost of State College of Health Technology, Ilese, Dr. Abiodun Oladunjoye, equally presented a total budget size of N1.15b for the next fiscal year, with a renewed assurance of evolving more measures towards achieving excellence in manpower training, thereby reducing infant and maternal morality ratio, as well as incidence of communicable diseases.

Oladunjoye gave the breakdown to include N510.7m for recurrent expenditure and the remaining N646.9m for various capital projects, with the institution's revenue projection and subvention put at N241m for next year.

The Lawmakers also considered 2021 budget proposals of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, Ijebu-Igbo and Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu, among others.