By Ismail Azeez, Osogbo
Governor Ademola Adeleke on Monday commissioned a new block of classrooms and ICT centre projects worth 260 million naira in Awo, Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State.
Speaking during the commissioning, facilitated by Bamidele Salam, the lawmaker representing Ede South/Ede North/Egbedore and Ejigbo federal constituency, the governor emphasised that the projects would enhance access to quality education for children in the area, in line with his administration’s agenda.
“The school building and ICT center here are quality infrastructure aimed at boosting quality education delivery for our children. This project would go a long way to prepare the children for future challenges, especially in the area of Information and Communication Technology,” he said.
Bamidele Salam also addressed the audience, highlighting the need for both infrastructure development and teacher training to improve the educational system in the country.
He stated, “There are two things we need to fix in our educational system. First of all, infrastructure, which we are working on, and we also need to fix the issue of manpower in our schools, train and retrain our teachers so they can deliver a better quality of education. And of course, in terms of advising the young persons, there is no alternative to education.”
He further elaborated, “Education also includes skills acquisition, for this century and, of course, for the economy of tomorrow. We encourage all our young persons to continue.”
Salam pointed out that the only functional classroom had been destroyed during the ENDSARS protest, leading to students leaving the school due to the lack of a conducive atmosphere.
“Through the UBEC, I was able to facilitate that project, and I thought, aside from that, in line with the modern trend, to provide an ICT centre, which is also included in the 2024 national budget, as my own initiative through the National Commission for Nomadic Education. That’s how we brought that ICT centre into place.”
Detailing the financial aspects of the projects, he noted, “The classroom project is almost N160 million, and the ICT centre is N100 million.”