The inadequate state of infrastructure in Community Primary School Owode, located in Ijako-Ota, Ogun State, has elicited concerns from both parents and staff.
According to The PUNCH, it was noted that the school’s amenities had deteriorated, with damaged equipment and facilities that were visually unappealing.
Teachers and parents said that a lack of proper and sufficient learning facilities had impeded the academic growth of the students.
According to one of the teachers of the school, Pius, “Owode has over 42 Community Development Associations.” Even though this place is enormous, there are only two government schools here, and they lack adequate resources.
“The two supposedly government schools were built by the community itself. In 2014, the school building collapsed. In time past, the students had their classes on the field without a roof over their heads.
“A Non-Governmental Organisation came from abroad to build the school after the storm from scratch. The NGO found the community via a video on social media showing the disturbed state of the children.”
He said that the majority of the improvements to the school were made by private parties, with the government only constructing two classrooms for the children.
“The school has not experienced power supply for about two years. Students sit on abandoned stoves and broken chairs to learn,” he lamented.
Another instructor who went by the name Babatunde similarly bemoaned the school’s infrastructure while pleading with the authorities for assistance.
A parent identified as Eniselu said, “Security in the school is zero due to the lack of a fence. Thieves come to the school regularly to steal. We are at God’s mercy.”
When contacted, the state Commissioner for Education, Ayobami Arigbabu, said, “There are two interventions by the government in the school. The first intervention was in 2010/2011 while the second intervention was in 2012/2013.
“Ogun State has 1,657 primary schools. In 2013, the intervention reached over 2,000 schools. We have over 1,000 proposed projects that will commence this year. The schools that did not benefit from the previous projects will benefit from the current project.”
Arigbabu asked the administration of the school to notify the relevant authorities of any fundamental needs at the institution.
