Speeches

Handing Over Of Model Blocks Of Classrooms At Ikeja Cantonment And Agindingbi

Jun 10, 2010 - We gather here today to demonstrate our resolve to implement our belief that people are our greater resource and asset.

Every investment we make in people constitutes the strongest building blocks for securing the 'bright and rewarding future of our dreams. We want to develop people who are healthy, which explains our investment in healthcare to prevent diseases and prolong life, we also want to develop skilled people who are able to employ themselves and others to contribute in a competitive way to the growth of our economy and society.

We want to help develop a proud people, who are confident and dignified. We believe that skilled people, and those who have dignity will' be better able to work with us to banish poverty from our land.

This is the reason we are gathered today; to demonstrate our resolve to fight poverty in the most enduring way known to our civilization, through education.

In the last 3 (three) years and 11 days, we have worked very hard to fulfill our promises to you.

We have done so much more than I can recount, but today we gather to hand over 2 (two) sets of projects that represent models of what we have been doing.

The first set of projects are the 8 (eight) blocks of school in the cantonment in Ikeja that consist of 82 (eighty two) classrooms that we have renovated and rehabilitated.

These 8 (eight) blocks represent models of the 253 (two hundred and fifty three) blocks consisting of 3,885 (three thousand, eight hundred and eighty five) classrooms across the State that we have renovated and rehabilitated.

We simply cannot move round 253 sites across the State handing over these classrooms otherwise we would lose valuable productive time needed to address other sectors.

The other set of projects in Agidingbi, a single block of 21 (twenty one) classrooms represents the model of brand new schools that we are building across the State. This represents the model of various designs of 126 (One hundred and twenty six) new schools block buildings consisting of 1,412 (One thousand, four hundred and twelve) classrooms that we have built afresh to add to the existing stock of classrooms in the education sector of Lagos community.

You can only imagine how tedious and time consuming the effort will be to hand over 126 new blocks of schools. But our teachers and students have already moved in and are putting them to use.

This meeting therefore provides a strategic opportunity to communicate with our people that we are making tremendous progress in transforming our public schools to destinations that students and teachers who are the prime stakeholders will want to attend, as the first critical step towards rekindling interest of our children and teachers in education.

Each of the classrooms we have rehabilitated or newly built will sit not more than 50 (fifty) pupils in the first instance in fulfillment of the promise that we made to you in 2007 and we will gradually reduce the number of people in each classroom as we complete our audit of schools and classroom facilities and their distribution across the State.

This audit has been commissioned as part of our promise to continue to act methodically and scientifically, using proper planning as the critical tool to solving the problems of our people.

We have stemmed the tide of dire shortage of classrooms, the next step therefore is to focus on efficient distribution of classrooms to ensure that there is a good public school close to home of every child of school age and within reasonable walking distance.

As we tackle the infrastructural gap in partnership with members of the private sector through our "Adopt a School" programme, for which we remain grateful to the sponsors, we deepen our working relationship with the Christian and Muslim missions who have invested in education by continuing the return of schools where possible and we are happy to acknowledge that we are noticing the return and improvement of standards.

Let me assert very quickly that we recognize that investment in education has a long term yield curve in its return and it is not often attractive to a Government of quick fixes.

Your Government in Lagos State s not a Government of quick fixes, because we are a Government that has found the courage to investigate, analyze and develop solution to problems, we are comfortable with the investment we make because the returns will outlive us and secure the future of Lagos.

Anybody looking for quick fixes will not find investment in education attractive. We are looking for enduring solutions to the problems of poverty and we have found it in education.

We have resolved to complete the infrastructure reform by embarking on a project that will deliver desks and chairs to all public schools, whether rehabilitated or not, whether newly built or not.

We have ordered 171,119 (One hundred and Seventy One Thousand, One Hundred and Nineteen) desks and chairs in the first phase of this project and we have taken delivery of 117,109 (One hundred and Seventy One Thousand, One Hundred and Nine) and we intend in "the second and final phase to conclude this project with 166,219 (One Hundred and Sixty Six Thousand, Two Hundred and Nineteen) based on the data of needs in all schools statewide that we gathered.

Apart from infrastructure reform, we are undertaking policy and personnel reform, training teachers, rewarding performance, providing incentive allowances and improving on their classroom management capacity and skills.

We are using sports, vocational clubs, holiday jobs, school debate, Spelling Bee programme (One Day Governor) as part of our multi-pronged approach to make school attractive and worthy of the attention of young people.

I am happy to announce to you that while we expect our investment to mature in the future, we are seeing results of turnaround in the several assessments that we continue to undertake to assess what we are doing well and should continue and what we need to review; because school enrollment and school attendance is increasing.

As I said at the launch of the Eko Programm, while I associate with the concerns expressed about national exams such as W AEC and NECO, I am convinced by our investment that we are on the right track because the figures of examination returns since 2007 show that things are heading in the right direction.

In 2007, 5,080 students (7.58%) passed with 5 credits in English and Mathematic; in 2008 it was 6,840 students (10.41 %) and in 2009 it was 11,432 students representing 18.41 %.

It must be made clear that there were other students who passed 5 (five ( subjects) but with either only English or either only Mathematics, there were others who passed only 4 (four) subjects with English and Mathematics and needed only 1 (one) more subject while quite a number passed only 5 (five) subjects without English or Mathematics.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this is not new. It happened in my own time about 30 (thirty) years ago and that was why we had remedial colleges which allowed students either re-sit the whole examination or concentrate on the one or two subjects of weaknesses.

We are working Oh strategies that will help us assist weak students who just require more attention.

Before I hand over these schools, I will like to conclude by making an appeal to all parents, and guardians to get involved in the education of your children and wards.

Please help them with home work, visit their schools without notice and see what they are doing and in what condition it is being done.

The education of children is a necessary obligation of parenting. It is not enough to leave it to teachers alone. It is also not enough to simply provide uniform, food and materials. You must invest your time. You are the mirror through which your children see life.

If you invest your time in their education, it.will be clear to them that you take it seriously and I am certain that they will take it seriously.

To the glory of God and to the benefit and development of our younger generation towards a brighter and rewarding future, I now hand over these schools.

Thank you for listening.

Eko o ni baje o!

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State