Dr Joan Osa Oviawe, Chairman, Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), says the state has spent over N6 billion on infrastructure provision for its public primary schools in the last three years.
Osa- Oviawe made the on Tuesday during an interactive session with journalists as part of activities marking the third year anniversary of the launch of Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST ).
According to her, the amount includes state and counterpart funding for infrastructure, to ensure quality education.
She explained that only 186 public primary schools had not been linked to the EdoBEST programme out of the 1,046 in the state.
The SUBEB chairman, however, noted that the remaining schools would be part of the quality basic education programme before the end of 2021.
“Gov. Godwin Obaseki is using counterpart funding to improve basic education in the state. In terms of human and material resources, Obaseki’s administration is unquantifiable.
“We already know the cost to have every child in the classroom including the training of teachers; the smart phones that the head teachers use to synchronise with the tablet of the teachers, the text books and other education materials are included.
“Over 400 schools have been constructed and rehabilitated while furniture were also provided by the state government,” she said.
Osa-Oviawe explained that basic education remained free and the government had been providing instructional materials since 2018.
About 3,000 graduates, she said were going to be hired as teachers even as she alluded that over 11,000 teachers had been trained by the Obaseki’s administration.
“The processes should be wrapping up before the end of May and the newly recruited teachers will be given the requisite training to be able to deliver quality education in our schools,” the chairman said.
Oviawe, however, disclosed that with the successes recorded in the EdoBEST, the programme would be extended to cover junior secondary schools, noting that all basic education schools enjoyed uniform teaching due to a centrally developed lesson system.
“The school curriculum in EdoBEST is tailored after the national curriculum and our goal is to train our people that they can compete any where in the world
“Over seven million textbooks, instructional materials and examination papers has been distributed to students,” she said.
