NGO wants state governments to rebuild dilapidated public schools

NGO wants state governments to rebuild dilapidated public schools.

A non-profit organisation, Eduplana on Wednesday urged state governments in the country to renovate and reconstruct dilapidated public schools for effective learning.

Oriyomi Ogunwale, Team Lead, Eduplana in a statement said that in 2021, the group identified 26 dilapidated schools across 12 states.

He said the states were, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba, Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom.

Ogunwale expressed the need for state governments to procure and allocate funds for public schools renovation and reconstruction.

“School-aged children should be given the best learning experience by ensuring that the 12 schools’ facilities highlighted by the UN SDG4 are available in public schools before 2030.

“Over the years, Eduplana has consistently advocated for public schools renovation and other needs across the 36 states of the country and the FCT.

“We believe that proper adherence to our ‘FixPublicSchools’ campaign presents another opportunity for public schools to become model learning environments for school children,’’ he said.

According to Ogunwale, ensuring that public schools are fixed is a necessity for every citizen.

He, however, called on government agencies such as Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to work together.

Ogunwale added that this was to ensure that the renovation and other needs of the schools were prioritised in 2022.

“We believe the Nigerian school-aged children, irrespective of their residence, urban or rural, have great potential; which can be harnessed through quality education in a conducive environment,’’ he said.

According to Ogunwale, the 2021 School Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report reveals that 107 schools’ needs are identified.

He added that seven renovation notice letters were submitted to the corresponding SUBEB offices with only four responses received.

“The findings of SNAP in 2021 capture one-third of the country’s primary education state,’’ Ogunwale said.

He said the SNAP report noted that most public schools in rural areas were the worst hit in terms of dilapidated structures, staff strength, and other basic school necessities.