Funmi Olaitan, Ibadan
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has said the three model schools being constructed by his administration in
Ibadan and Saki will soon be ready for inauguration.
He said this during an inspection tour of two of the model schools, Oba Akinbiyi High School, Mokola and Islamic High
School, Basorun, both in Ibadan, the state capital.
He further stated that the project at the Baptist High School, Saki, which, according to him, was also nearing completion, would equally be inspected soon.
The governor said the construction of the model schools was in fulfillment of his administration’s resolve to holistically transform the education sector by enhancing the physical structures, teaching
and learning as well as moral rectitude of the students.
Ajimobi said his administration had delivered on its promises, especially in relation to qualitative education, despite strong opposition in some quarters to the radical policies introduced to revamp the sector.
He added that some cynics went to town to dismiss the vision as impossible when he announced the decision of the government to
construct the model schools, insisting that he would continue to prove them wrong by making his words his bond.
Ajimobi said the model school project and the Technical University, which recently matriculated its first set of students, were part of the legacies his administration would leave behind in the education sector.
According to him, these and the introduction of School Governing Board (SGB) and Oyo State Model Education System Intervention
(OYOMESI) have started impacting on the final year results of secondary school students across the state.
He said, "When we first started, some people said we would not do it, but now, we have done it. They might say it took so long, but we did all these within our eight-year tenure. No administration had achieved similar feat in the last 30 years.
"No matter the rhetorics of the opposition and detractors, we have improved on education. Oyo State recorded the best performance in
WASSCE and NECO in the last 18 years, last year. This is another feather in that cap of educational standards and growth in our state.
"For me, this is a legacy. These model schools are a lot different from the type of school facilities we used to have. It is a lot of
improvement and if you want to appreciate the improvement, you can go and check the quality and aesthetics of the structures we are putting up in the three locations, compared with what we used to be.
“With the level of work done so far, I can assure you that we will inaugurate the three model schools in the next few weeks. We are even planning to build three more, God helping us.”
He stated that when completed the structures would be handed over to the SGBs of the three schools, which, he said, comprised community leaders, old students, head boy or head girl, philanthropists, principals, Parents-Teachers Association and corporate establishments, among others.
The governor said that education had to be looked at comprehensively, from the perspective of learning, curriculum and teaching, as well as discipline as regards the character of the students, all of which, he said informed the introduction of the OYOMESI policy.
