Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has said that his administration would require about N60 billion to give public schools in the state a befitting facelift, as well as set up new schools, especially in the riverine areas.
The governor, who said this during an interview with journalists, said though his administration has spent about N10 billion in the last 22 months to boost the quality of education in the state, there was still a lot to be done in the sector.
He said the state government had carried out a study last year on the interventions needed in public schools and the construction of new ones, assuring that the funds set aside in the 2017 budget for education would be judiciously put to good use.
“The result showed that we need about N60 billion to put our schools together. But we started the massive rehabilitation of the schools last year and you can go round to confirm. We expended about N10 billion trying to put the worst set of schools back in shape.
“This year, a major intervention is also going to take place from our budget to see that at least the existing schools compete favourably with the private schools. That is the whole idea.
‘’I attended a public school and I must give back. Some of our riverine areas don’t really have schools. If you go to Ilaje and other places, there are no schools there and you see people taking canoes to go to school. So, that intervention is what we are undertaking this year to see that there is continuous capital expenditure in public schools,” he said.
Explaining the delay in the take-off of the a-meal-a-day programme, the governor said his administration was working towards a sustainable plan for the programme to cater for the eventual take-off.
Explaining the delay in the take off for the A-Meal-A-Day programme, the Governor said his administration was working towards a sustainable plan for the programme to cater for the eventual take off.
He said over 2,300 qualified teachers have also being employed and posted across the various primary and secondary schools in the State to improve the performance of students, which according to him is already yielding results.
Vanguard
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