The statement reads:”The state of education in Osun state indeed demands urgent attention from the government. From primary to secondary schools, the infrastructure is in bad condition. The three areas that affect learning are in need of urgent reforms. The learning environment, the teaching aids and teachers’ welfare are all issues our government is looking into.
“The above conditions are complicated by parental economic conditions, the breakdown of family value system and the increasing law and order challenges in the society. The worst side is bad educational policy and lack of political will under the previous administration. The result is that Osun is placed 34th or so on the national examination rating index.
“Our administration is determined to change the situation for the better. To that end, we have a comprehensive education sector reform agenda. We will soon hold an educational summit where all stakeholders will brainstorm.
“The summit will enable me to submit the Imole Education Agenda with a view to fast track the implementation process. Our aim is to ensure an education system.in tune with the demands of the 21st century.
“Specifically , our government is resolved to improve the learning environment, empower the teachers and provide learning aids. I have a very ambitious target for this sector. The ultimate goal is to improve the educational rating of Osun from the present 34th position to between 1 to 10th position.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as part of the planned reform, our administration is today addressing a major constraint facing most students-access to instructional materials. The cost of books and other materials is becoming unaffordable for most parents. I will today share hundreds of instructional materials to aid learning in our secondary schools.
“This is however a temporary solution. A more trending solution is to apply technology in our schools. In the past, application of tech innovations in schools failed due to failure to abide by best practice. Administrators then abandoned expert advice, hence the failure of such innovations. Our government is ready to infuse technology to aid learning, to assist teachers and to improve the learning environment.
“Part of the reason for failure at national examinations is lack of familiarity with computer systems. Majority of our students are not able to use computers until a few days before their examinations. Unfortunately, most examinations are now computer based. Upgrading students’ computer skills is therefore one of the major goals of my administration.
“To that end, I hereby direct the Ministry of Education to clean up and re-open the nine computer centers located in selected schools across the nine Federal Constituencies. The facilities in those centers are rotten away. We must put them to good use for the betterment of our education system.
“In the same vein, I call on both the Ministry of Education and that of Science and Innovation to study the possibility of introducing tablets into the senior secondary school level.
“This will address the increasing cost of book purchase and also enhance Osun readiness for e-learning. The two ministries should look into best practices and engage TLG, a local company in which the Osun government is a shareholder, on the subject matter.
“Ladies and gentlemen, distribution of instructional materials is just a starting point of our educational reforms. Expect multiple innovations to take Osun to greater heights.
