Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has declared Monday, October 7, 2024, as a work-free day for teachers in the state.

This is in commemoration of this year?s Teachers? Day in the state.

Hence, schools within the state are expected to resume academic activities on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.

Abiodun made this disclosure on Saturday during the celebration held at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, the state capital.

The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Ogun State chapter, in a notice shared with its members on Sunday, reminded them about the holiday as declared by the governor.

The message being shared on school platforms on Sunday, read, ?This is to inform you that the Ogun State Government has declared Monday, October 7, 2024, as teachers? holiday.

?In line with this directive, all schools are expected to observe the holiday. Therefore, academic activities are suspended tomorrow. School resumes on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, as previously planned,? it added.

At the Saturday event, the governor also approved the construction of 12 blocks of 900 smart classrooms in four schools in each zone across the state.

The four benefiting schools are Abeokuta Grammar School, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta; Ijebu-Ode Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode; Remo Secondary School, Sagamu; and Yewa College, Ilaro.

Highlighting his administration?s achievements in the education sector, Abiodun noted the implementation of the Ogun Digitalised Multimedia Lesson Plan, where teachers would be equipped with the necessary resources to deliver effectively centralised and digitised lesson plans, and the construction of the Central Education Management Information System for data gathering, analysis, and presentation, as part of the achievements in the sector.

Other achievements, according to Abiodun, include the approval of the Ogun State Education Intervention Fund, the successful conduct of the BECE with the introduction of Optical Mark Reader sheets, and the installation of ICT facilities in preparation for the flag-off of the Nigeria Learning Passport for e-content.

The governor equally announced that his office is working towards completing abandoned schools and projects from 2018 and 2019.

He said, ?You recall that when I assumed office, this state had not accessed the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 funds. Shortly after I assumed office, we paid the counterpart funding for those four years, and we accessed the funding. The current funding we are implementing is for 2018 and 2019. What I noticed is that most of the contracts were abandoned because of inflation; the pricing was not realistic. That was my number one observation.

?My second observation was that despite all these interventions, every now and then, you would see an Ogun State school in the news. You would see Ogun State learners sitting on 9-inch blocks and learning in schools without roofs, despite the fact that we have accessed UBEC or SUBEB funding.

?I realised that something had to be wrong, and what was that? I realised that the schools that were being built were not the worst of the worst schools.

?We put a hold on the programme, and I set up a task force headed by the Head of Service, and I mandated them to go around the nooks and crannies of the state and identify the worst of the worst schools so that we are no longer embarrassed,? he said.

Abiodun added that, ?I am pleased to announce to you that the new work plan for UBEC that reflects our peculiarities has now been approved. So, two things we will be achieving: all the abandoned schools and projects from the 2018 and 2019 plans will now have a methodology for rewarding and completing them, and the 2020 work plan will now reflect the worst of the worst schools.? (The PUNCH)

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