Students, Alumni cry out over dilapidated infrastructure, accuse govt of politicising issue
Students and alumni of the Orile Agege Community High School, Oko Oba, Agege, Lagos State, have raised the alarm over the deplorable state of infrastructure in the school.
They said that the dilapidated infrastructure at the school had continued to make learning difficult for the current students of the school.
Investigations at the school by our correspondent revealed that the many of the students sit on the floor to receive lessons, while the institution’s toilets and premises also lack water. There is also dearth of furniture in the classrooms and laboratories; the school library lacks books. There are also no white markers for the teacher’s use in the classroom.
“Some of our classrooms didn’t just get to this level now. They have been like that in the past three years and many of us have to sit on the floor to write notes during classes. Some students bring jute bags from their homes, which they spread on the floor of the classroom to sit on. We want the government to come and visit our school to know what is really happening,” a student, who pleaded anonymity said.
Another student, who spoke with our correspondent, said, “Not only that the classrooms have no chairs, also our labs and computer room, for instance, are very empty as there is no single functioning system there, as I am speaking with you.”
A committee member of the school’s alumni association, Mr. Bambo Akin, noted that the old students had been donating notebooks to the school free of charge, adding that in November another member donated a set of computer system during their visit to the school.
Akin accused the state government of an alleged cover-up of its inadequacies by publishing a rejoinder in a community magazine, which only showcased some other classes that had some furniture in
them.
He further revealed that the association wrote and secured the permission of the Tutor-General of Education District 1, Dr Yinka Ayandele, under whose jurisdiction the school is located, to rehabilitate the dilapidated classrooms.
“If there was nothing wrong, the tutor general would not have given us approval to rehabilitate it, because the association has the letter of approval the tutor general signed this month. There was no computer in the computer room, it was a member of the alumni association that donated three computer systems in November. The classrooms are nicely tiled, but lack what could have made them classrooms,” he said.
I believe the regulatory body assigned with maintaining the standard for the state is not working as assumed by the authorities
Another alumni of the school, Mr. Aruna Ahmed Orukpe, said that government attention should be effectively drawn to such issues, saying, “I think part of the way forward is to notify the state education board, the Ministry of Education and the state government itself about the state of the classrooms.
“I believe the regulatory body assigned with maintaining the standard for the state is not working as assumed by the authorities. The government should be notified of the degenerated status of the school’s standard in all aspect; then subsequently, other measures to maintain standard be induced and monitored by the old students’ association.”
However, the education secretary of the Orile Agege Local Council Development Area, Mr Olalekan Majiyagbe, noted that it was impossible for a particular administration to complete the business of governance as governance is a
continuum.
He said, “As far as I am concerned, the situation in our local government improved tremendously in the last three administrations in Lagos State, because we have seen how this current government is improving infrastructure.
“The Orile Agege Community High School at Oguntade Street, though not under our management practically, it’s under the Education District 1. This school in the past used to be a large school, but it was split into two. But due to the increasing population of students, furniture started dilapidate. I appreciate the alumni’s emphasis on the need to continually draw government attention and collaboration by stakeholders like the old
students.
“To be realistic, even if Governor Ambode spent 20 years, he alone cannot solve all the problems in the state. But with joint participation of the stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors, then we will be talking about progressive approach to governance. But it is evident that education under the current administration has improved in the constituency.”
He said that that the government had been inaugurating new blocks of classrooms almost on a weekly basis in the state, and had also embarked on mass production of furniture and marker boards.
Majiyagbe added that the government had also taken it upon itself to fumigate classrooms, while it had been paying teachers’ salaries regularly.
The Public Relations Officer of the state Ministry of Education, Mr. Segun Ogundeji, told our correspondent that the issue of provision of infrastructure to schools was a continuous process, which the government had been working towards at
all times.
“I have not been there; so I can’t say the report is true or false. But the fact is that the state government is aware of infrastructure deficit in its schools and it is has been working fervently to bridge the gap. As I’m speaking with you, so many contractors are still making the furniture meant to be distributed to the various schools. So, if the government has not got to that school in the provision of infrastructure, it will definitely get to them soon,” he said.
