Oyo State Better Education Service Delivery for All Additional Financing -Transforming Education Services Delivery (BESDA AF-TESS), on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, distributed 33 motorcycles to School Support Officers (SSO) across all the local government areas of the State for easy access to hard to reach schools.
The Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology, Prof. Salihu Adelabu, while presenting the keys of the motorcycles to school support officers from the beneficiaries MDAs, which includes, TESCOM, SUBEB and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, at Ministry’s Car Park, Agodi, Secretariat, Ibadan, reiterated the commitment of the present administration to reduce numbers of out of School Children in the state.
Prof. Adelabu noted that the Oyo State Government, with support from the World Bank, is working assiduously to strengthen the educational system in the state and also improve the performances of the students in four key subjects.
The Commissioner explained that the motorcycles would enable the school support officers to cover the schools within the cities and rural areas during monitoring and data gathering in relation to out-of-school children and other important areas.
He added that part of the agenda of the state government and World Bank under the BESDA project is to ensure there is an improvement in the teaching and learning process of the English language, Mathematics, Science, and Information Communication Technology in public schools in the state.
He revealed that plans are under way to construct a block of classrooms, toilets, and other essential facilities in the selected schools in the state under the BESDA AF- TESS 2024 work plan.
In his remarks, the State’s Coordinator of BESDA-AF-TESS, Dr. Bamidele Odekunle, said the motorcycles distributed are not palliatives but an intervention to improve and strengthen the education system in the state.
He explained that there are four subjects (Mathematics, English Language, ICT, Basic Science, and Technology) that need to be improved upon across the state.
Odekunle said that the supervisors would be moving round the nooks and crannies of the state to ensure that the teachers handling the four subjects are well tutored and get the required skills for the job.
He hinted that some schools are difficult to reach by vehicle; hence, there is a need for the distribution of motorcycles to aid easy access and coverage of these schools by designated officers.
He appreciated the Global Partnership for Education and the World Bank for adding value to the education sector of the state, assuring that the collective goals of involved partners would be achieved within the stipulated time.
Earlier, the BESDA AF- TESS steering committee had a meeting for the first quarter of the year at the conference room of the Ministry of education, where 2023 implementation activities were reviewed.
The meeting had in attendance the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof.Salihu Adelabu, Chairman, Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Pastor Akinade Alamu; Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Nureni Adeniran; Special Adviser to the Governor on Education Intervention, Oloye Suraj Tiamy and a host of others.
