Edo to audit schools, rolls out infrastructure renewal plans

Edo State Government has embarked on an infrastructure audit of schools in the state with the aim of deploying the collated data to drive the infrastructure renewal plan for the state’s education sector.

The Executive Chairman, Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mrs. Ozavize Salami, who disclosed this, said the government is set to launch a five-year infrastructure renewal plan, in line with ongoing reforms in the education sector.

Salami spoke at a webinar series, with the theme “Talk to the People,” organized by the Edo Media Connect Forum, in collaboration with the Edo Ministry of Communication and Orientation.

Speaking on the theme, “Basic Education Reform: A Panacea for Social Welfare Enhancement in Edo State,” Salami hinted that infrastructure renewal was one of the cardinal pillars under the education reform programme of the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration.

According to her, the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme, which has now been expanded to all levels of education in the state, has changed the face of teaching and learning since 2018, when it was introduced.

Noting that Edo was currently carrying out an infrastructure audit of schools in the state to use the data for the renewal project, the SUBEB boss noted, “Maintenance is part of the plan, so that schools would not deteriorate at a very high speed as they did before.

“Government has realised the work ahead of it and this infrastructural uplift will begin in the next few months.”

Salami explained that the EdoBEST programme, which has been embraced by some prominent states in the country, was conceived to tackle the barriers in the education system.

“EdoBEST was launched to correct the anomalies that the government met in the education sector when it came. There was rot, such as lack of data to make critical decisions and interventions, dearth of teachers and failure of the communities to take ownership of the facilities.

“It is in view of this that the government prioritised training and equipping of teachers. About 11,000 teachers were trained on technology-based learning and teaching techniques.

“Tablets that contained lesson notes for teaching were distributed to the teachers. This improved the morale of teachers, and we abolished corporal punishment for pupils in primary schools,” she said.

The SUBEB boss asserted that as a way of showing its commitment to education, the state government budgeted N24 billion to the sector.

According to her, the sum was the second-largest allocation to any sector, after infrastructure.