Learning the hard way •I have turned my office into classroom for the pupils – Head teacher

The importance of elementary education in the development of any nation cannot be overemphasized. In spite of this, however, many primary schools across the country are suffering from shortage of infrastructure needed to create conducive environment that would make knowledge acquisition comfortable for the pupils. Dagbolu Anglican Nursery and Primary School Atikori, Ijebu Igbo in […]

The importance of elementary education in the development of any nation cannot be overemphasized. In spite of this, however, many primary schools across the country are suffering from shortage of infrastructure needed to create conducive environment that would make knowledge acquisition comfortable for the pupils.
Dagbolu Anglican Nursery and Primary School Atikori, Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State, which our reporter visited recently, is one of such schools. In the school, two different classes run simulteneously in one classroom.
 The school, established in 1948, is one of the oldest public primary schools in Ijebu North Local Government Area. At the beginning, basic infrastructures were in place at the school, making it a school of first choice for parents whose wards that attended the school have become prominent sons and daughters of Ijebu Igbo, many of whom are occupying various enviable positions in the country today.
 But that was then. The school has now become a shadow of itself. Lack of basic facilities and inadequate classrooms.
 The head teacher of the school, Mr F. A. Senuga, lamented the lack of facilities in the school. He said that in spite of the situation, the management was trying its best to make the learning environment conducive for pupils. “We are trying our best and we have made a lot of sacrifices to make the environment conducive for learning. For example, I have turned my office into classroom for the pupils,” he told our reporter.
 One of the teachers in the school who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “We are only managing the lack of facilities in the school. We don’t have a choice because there is no alternative classroom for the pupils to receive lecture. I sometimes delay my lecture for other classes to hold theirs, but for how long would we continue like that? This is why we hold our classes simultaneously as you can see now. There is stipulated time for our subjects and the pupils will close by 2.00pm, so we don’t have any other choice than to hold the classes at the same time.”
Chairman of the Parents Teacher Association (PTA) of the school, Mr Samuel Olatoye, said the parents were sad with the way the pupils were receiving lectures in the school, adding that the PTA had been trying its best to call the attention of the Ogun State government to the state of the school.
“We have been trying our best to make sure that more classrooms are built in the school. Officials of the Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) came to the school at a time and a block of two classrooms was later started. That was about four years ago. The project was later abandoned. We don’t know the contractor handling the project; all we know is that the project belonged to SUBEB,” he stated.
A youth leader in Dagbolu community, Mr Adewale Adeyemi, told Eko Trust that the youth of the community informed the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, about the plight of the pupils of Dagbolu Anglican Nursery and Primary School during the last electioneering and the governor promised to solve the problem, if he was re-elected.
Adeyemi said: “Governor Amosun promised to solve the problems facing this community, including the problem of two classes sharing one classroom for lectures in Dagbolu Anglican Nursery and Primary School. He promised to work on it but he is yet to fulfill his promise to us after he was sworn in. We are eagerly waiting for him to come to our aid.”
Efforts to speak with the Education Secretary of the Ijebu North Local Government Area, Alhaja M. Balogun, were futile as she was not on seat when our reporter visited her office. But a staff of the council, who pleaded anonymity, told Eko Trust that the Education Secretary was aware of the problems facing Dagbolu Anglican Nursery and Primary School and that she had informed the state government about the problems.
“When the Education Secretary and her team were appointed over three years ago, the state government requested for the list of abandoned projects in the public primary schools in this local government. These were compiled by the Education Secretary and sent to the state government. I believe the government is working on it,” the staff said.
But the question on the lips of the staff, students and host community of Dagbolu Anglican Nursery and Primary School is: “How long will it take the Ogun State government to come to our aid?”