Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has commended Ekiti teachers for their dedication and commitment to building the education sector to the enviable heights it had reached.
Fayemi, who stated this in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday during the 2022 World Teachers Day disclosed that the commendable attitude of teachers informed the various exploits his administration has recorded in the education sector, urging them to brace up for the task ahead as the new administration would take the baton of leadership in few days.
The highpoint of the ceremony attended by teachers from the 16 local government and 19 LCDAs was the presentation of cheques of N10million each to the best teacher in Primary and secondary schools categories. The beneficiaries are Adeyemi Omolade of SUBEB Model School, Omuo Ekiti for the Primary category and kupolati Mary of Ilejemeje Community High School, Iye Ekiti for the Primary Category.
Other awards include 26 consolation prizes of N100,000 each cutting across both Primary and secondary schools while the first runners-up got N1million each and the second runners-up got N500,000 each.
Fayemi noted that the quality of their teaching and the friendly learning environment provided in schools resulted in increase in enrolment of children in schools. This, he said, culminated in the establishment of additional ten secondary schools in 2021.
The Governor added that at the wake of his administration in 2018, he re-established the free and compulsory education programme and abolished levies on primary school pupils and secondary school students to forestall enrolment of children and ensure that no child drops out of school through the Executive Order 001.
He explained that the effort has made the state record the lowest out-of-school children and highest enrolment in Nigeria, urging teachers to maintain their hard work to improve on the remarkable performance of students at both internal and external examinations.
Dr Fayemi disclosed that a total 1,558 teachers were employed and 886 projects executed between 2016 and 2020 . They include construction of new blocks of classrooms, perimeter fencing, modern toilets, renovation of old blocks of classrooms and provision of school furniture among others.
At the event, which was attended by the Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Olabimpe Aderiye, Dr Fayemi canvassed support for the Governor-elect and assured them that he would accord teachers’ welfare, entitlements and promotion the deserved priority.
“Today, I have come to thank you teachers, for your contributions and the values you have added. We are very proud of your outstanding performance that earned us the National Best Teacher of the year in 2020 and the 1st Runner Up in 2021. We also had national awards of the best public primary school and the best approved private secondary school in 2021. Ekiti was one of the award winning States in the 2021/2022 national Mathematics Day and SDG for Girls Child.
“As a result of the quality of your teaching and the friendly learning environment provided in our schools, enrolment increased from 191,117 in 2018 to 261,292 in 2022. This increase in enrolment automatically resulted in the need to establish additional ten secondary schools in 2021. The number of public primary and secondary schools in Ekiti increased from 901 to 906 and 196 to 203 respectively between 2018 and 2022..
“Moreover, 1,558 teachers were employed by SUBEB, TESCOM and BTVE within the past four years. The Provision of free, compulsory and qualitative education to Ekiti pupils and students has been at a great cost to us as a Government. So far, we have disbursed six hundred and fifty-five million naira (#655m) as running grants to public schools in Ekiti State.
“Similarly, we have paid a total of one billion, forty-four million, nine hundred and forty-one thousand, four hundred and fifty naira (#1,044,941,450) to enable 57,465 public school students sit for WAEC examination over the past 4 years. This is to ensure that, irrespective of the socio-economic status of their parents, they have the certificate as a proof of the education they have acquired.
“I am glad that all the efforts are yielding the desired results. Ekiti is one of the two states with the lowest out of school children in the whole of Nigeria (MICS 2021) and an 80.4% early childhood development index which is above the Nigerian average of 47.7% (MICS 2021).
Earlier, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Bimpe Aderiye commended the governor for the various motivations he accorded teachers since he assumed office and assured which made Ekiti teachers to be recognized nationally through the various laurels they have brought to the state.
In their separate goodwill messages, the SUBEB Chairman, Prof. Femi Akinwumi; national President of Nigeria Union of Teachers, Comrade Titus Amba; National President of Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASSUS), Comrade Samuel Omadi; NUT Chairman, Comrade Emmanuel Oke, ASSUS Chairman, Comrade Sola Adigun all commended Governor Fayemi for his giant strides in the education sector which had made the state to remain at the top.
They assured the government of teachers’ continued commitment and dedication to the overall interest of the state adding that the governor had made remarkable impact in the regular payment of salaries, running grants to schools, transformation of Technical Colleges, renovation of school building among others.
Fayemi also inaugurated three model smart secondary schools across the three senatorial districts of the state with an assurance that the incoming administration would do greater exploits in the sector, because of the solid foundation that has been laid.
The Governor who also inaugurated a new office complex for the State Universal Basis Education Board (SUBEB), said the huge investments his administration made in the education sector, was already shielding dividends.
Fayemi was accompanied by the Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboyi, inaugurated the 36-classroom Harding College in Ado Ekiti, and Senatorial Model Smart Schools in Isan and Ijan Ekiti in the Ekiti Knowledge Zone, Ijan and Iṣan Ekiti respectively.
Fayemi, at a brief ceremony at the Harding College, reiterated the need for royal fathers, community leaders, religious leaders, philanthropist and others to support Government in turning public schools to centre of excellence.
The Governor, who boasted that he was a product of public schools, stated that his administration’s investment in the last 47 months in education had contributed to improved school enrolment, excellent performance of students in national exams, well equipped teachers and provision of conducive environment for qualitative teaching and learning in the State.
Speaking on the steps taken to improve the sector, Dr Fayemi highlighted free and compulsory education policy, payment of counterpart fund to UBEC for the period from 2015 to 2021, payment of running grants to all public primary and secondary schools in the state, massive rehabilitation of school infrastructure.
Others included, construction of additional school buildings, payment of WAEC examination fees for all students in public schools as well as the provision of conducive teaching and learning environment in schools, introduction of an aggressive training and retraining programme in partnership with UBEC under which over 15,000 teachers, school administrators and school support officers have been trained in the last three years.
“As we inaugurate this school complex for use today, I want to underscore emphatically the commitment of my administration to make our schools more attractive to children of school age through the introduction of pupil friendly initiatives as well as the teaching of practical agricultural entrepreneurship and sporting activities that would make our pupils have all round skills.
“As you all aware, our administration has never hidden its intention of making public schools centres of excellence that can compete favourably with private schools in no distant future. Since the incoming administration is an off-shoot of this administration, it is expected that it will not only continue these giant strides but further consolidate the gains made in the sector.“ He added.
The Harding Memorial College which was built to honour and immortalize Revd. Thomas Harding who was one of the European Anglican Missionaries that served and died in the State, is equipped with over 50 toilets, chemistry, biology and physics laboratories as well as ICT and home economics laboratories. It also has a water treatment plant and an examination hall.
In his remarks, Executive Secretary UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, commended Governor Fayemi’s effort at ensuring that school age children had access to free education that are close to them.
He explained that the two smart model schools built and equipped with modern facilities including ICT, sick bay, technical laboratories and others in the State were facilitated by Governor Fayemi to ensure that students in the rural areas are not denied access to basic educations in their neighbourhood.
