The Onise of Odo Oro-Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Oba Babatunde Jemilehin, Aladesodedero 1, has called on the State Government to renovate and reconstruct the dilapidated classrooms at the St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School in the community.
Also, the coordinator of the Old Students Association, Prince Segun Okunoye, urged the government and stakeholders in the education sector to wrest the school from dilapidation in the interest of the pupils.
The duo spoke at the handing over of a newly renovated block of three classrooms by the old students to the school management and the school officials Odo Oro-Ekiti.
Oba Jemilehin, lamented the unpleasant experience of the pupils under the dilapidated classrooms especially during rainy season.
The monarch who commended the old students for the renovation of the block of classrooms, said that solid and conducive infrastructure remained invaluable to standard education in any society.
He stressed the state government to commence urgent steps to give the pupils a befitting and conducive learning environment.
“The buildings in this primary school have been in very terrible, dilapidated form for a long while. That has been source of concern to not only the school management, but equally to me as the traditional ruler of the town and the generality of the odo Oro Ekiti indigenes.
“The harrowing experience the pupils go through to study in such a deplorable condition and the effects on their psychology as they visit other schools with good structures cannot be over emphasised. Their teachers too are not left out in the trauma of teaching pupils drenched whenever it rains.
“It is in the spirit of this understanding that I am making this passionate appeal to the government to come to the aid of our primary schools in Odo Oro Ekiti.”
Speaking also, the coordinator of the Old Students Association, Okunoye,
explained that the old students were moved by the pictures and videos of pupils learning under the deplorable structures and decided to pull resources together to renovate the block of three classrooms.
He noted that there was need for the people to collaborate with the government in improving the standard of education.
Geb added that government should be deliberate in attending to the other blocks for the pupils to be motivated in learning.
“With the limited resources available to us, we set to work and the renovation of the building we are handling over today was completed in August this year, preparatory to the resumption of academic activities for the new session.
“We, however, regret to say that of the four buildings that need immediate attention, we could only handle one, while the remaining three are in their dilapidated shapes as we can all see.
“It is therefore on that note that we want to call on the state government, the State Universal Primary Education Board and other governmental agencies that are stakeholders in the administration of primary school education, to urgently come and assist in renovating the remaining buildings in this school.”
In his remarks, the head teacher of the school, Chief Idowu Adeyemi, commended the old students for the gesture, which she said would go a long way in ameliorating the suffering of the pupils and staff.
The primary school, which was established in 1954, has 240 pupils.
