PRIOR to the inception of the present administration in Osun State, no one would ever have thought that the tremendous reformation being witnessed in the education system in the state today could be possible.

Public education was a ruse and in shambles, to the extent that no one could dream of enroling his or her wards in a public school, except those without the financial capacity to afford private schools.

Aregbesola

The students, especially of primary schools extraction were roughly dressed and malnourished, schools buildings were in dilapidated state, students’performance was abysmally poor, there were no instructional materials, while the tuition fees in the state-owned tertiary institution was outrageous.

Regardless of the poor system, parents had to struggle to
pay tuition fees for their wards, even when the immediate past government claimed that education at the primary and secondary levels were free. After his assumption of office as the Governor of Osun State on November 27, 2010, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in line with his quest to promote functional education and improve its standard, took the bull by the horn and put together an educational summit, involving the best brains within the state and beyond in the educational system to identify the problem facing the system and advise the government on what to do to revamp the decayed system.

Reduction in tuition fees

The resultant effect immediately after the education summit was the reduction in the tuition fees of the tertiary institution by 50 per cent. The students who were paying between N45,000 and N50,000 in the polytechnic are now paying maximum of N25,000. For Colleges of Education, it was reduced from N28,000 to maximum of N20,000; and for Osun State University (UNIOSUN), the Medical Students who were paying N198,000 are now paying N100,000, while non-medical students who were paying N155,000 are now paying maximum of N75,000.

Meanwhile, the medical students of UNIOSUN who have been stagnated and could not continue their medical training because there is no Teaching Hospital in the institution now have cause to rejoice, as the government is spending N146 million to sponsor them to Ukraine to complete their medical training. The government is picking up all the bills for the two years programme from the tuition fees, to air tickets, procurement of visas and invitation fees, accommodations, immigration services, medical investigations and insurance and the cost for language training among others.

In line with the recommendation of the summit that conducive environment must be provided for the students to learn fast and perform beautifully, the government of the state has launched a programme called O’Schools, which would be over-seeing infrastructural development of the schools. Under this programme, 170 state of the art mega schools are being built across the state, 100 of which are for elementary schools (Grade 1 to 3) which is 1,000-capacity; 50 middle school (Grade 4 to 8) also of 1,000-capacity and 20 High Schools (Grade 9 to 12) of 3,000-capacity each. The prototype of the elementary school is about to be completed in Osogbo, while the prototype of middle and high schools are currently being built in Ile-Ife and Ejigbo respectively.

Also, the administration has reviewed the School Feeding Programme for primary one and two pupils and the programme is now called O’Meal. It was critically examined by the present administration that the foods were being prepared in dirty environments, while the quality and quantity of the food was very poor. However, the programme has taken a new dimension, as it has been extended to pupils in primary three and the kids are now being fed with food, rich in high protein and fruits.

On Mondays and Thursdays, the pupils are being fed with Chicken, with food, rich in vegetable and fruit; on Tuesdays, they are being fed with beef and some other nutritious meals; on Wednesdays, they are fed with fish and on Fridays, they are fed with eggs with their menu. The programme is costing the government N1.56 billion in a year.

Things took a new dimension when Governor Aregbesola reviewed the programme and declared that once a student is qualified to be in SS3, it is assumed that such students had been prepared for the final year examination and as a result, the government would pay the WAEC fee for such students. Still not satisfied with the way the students in the public primary and secondary schools are kitted, the government has decided to sew standard uniform for the students in a unique way, by using the style that will promote the Yoruba culture and the local producer of Adire.

For the elementary school, the design reflects Adire alone, for the middle school, it reflects Adire with state crest on it, while for the high school, it is Adire, combined with plain fabric.

The representatives of all the existing religions, PTA, students and other stakeholders in the state were in the committee that chose the designs of the proposed uniform.

For the sewing of the uniforms, 3,100 indigenous tailors, that is 100 tailors from each local government and Modakeke Area Office would be recruited to sew the uniform and the project is costing the government N1.85 billion. Before the advent of the present administration, between N200 and N1000 was being given to primary schools for running cost per term per school and with this, parents were being overburdened with series of levy.

To reduce the burden, Governor Aregbesola directed that for whatever reason, no teacher must collect a penny from any student for their education. Presently, the running cost per term has been placed on N400 per child, which translate to minimum of N75,000 averagely per school per term for primary schools.

For the secondary schools, they were being given N150 per child per term and it has now been increased to N550 per child per term. Also instructional materials like chalks, exercise books, attendance register, black board cleaners among others, running to over N150 million had been provided for primary and secondary schools across the state.

Also, to take care of interest of teachers, the present administration has created office of Tutor-General, which would be of the same status with Permanent Secretary and the office will be filled by teachers in the three Senatorial Districts of the state. They will be in charge of education and handle the welfare of teachers.
•Olatunbosun is Assistant Director, (Community Forum) Bureau of Communication and strategy, office of the Governor of Osun State.