Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has declared Monday, October 6, 2024, a work-free day for teachers to mark this year’s Teachers’ Day celebration, News About Nigeria reports.
The announcement was made during the Teachers’ Day event held at the Cultural Centre in Kuto, Abeokuta, where the governor also unveiled several key educational initiatives to enhance the teaching environment and resources across the state.
Governor Abiodun also announced the construction of 12 blocks of 900 smart classrooms across four secondary schools, with Abeokuta Grammar School, Idi-Aba; Ijebu-Ode Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode; Remo Secondary School, Sagamu; and Yewa College, Ilaro, chosen as the initial beneficiaries.
The governor revealed the absorption of 1,000 OgunTeach interns into the State Teaching Service Commission, bringing the total number of new teachers added to the workforce under his administration to 5,000.
Additionally, Abiodun approved increased funding for the renovation and support of all special schools, including raising feeding allowances for special school students to ensure their inclusion and wellbeing.
Abiodun also announced that public school teachers would now receive transport allowances in place of the work-free days previously granted to state government workers.
Among other recent achievements, the governor announced the establishment of the Ogun State Education Intervention Fund, the successful rollout of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) using optical Mark Reader (OMR) sheets, and the installation of ICT facilities to support the upcoming Nigeria Learning Passport e-learning initiative.
In response to questions regarding unaccessed 2020 Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds, Governor Abiodun explained his administration’s efforts to secure and utilise past education funds.
“When I took office, Ogun State had not accessed UBEC funding from 2014 to 2017. Shortly after assuming office, we fulfilled the counterpart funding for those years. Currently, we are implementing projects funded by the 2018 and 2019 allocations,” he clarified.
