The Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran, made this known when he received executive members of the State Primary Health-care Board and Evidence Action, a non-governmental organisation in his office.

Adeniran who received the visitors on an advocacy visit on behalf of the state government, promised to lend necessary support required to the team, so as to ensure that primary schools across 33 local governments are reached by the programme.

“We would ensure all Local Government Universal Basic Education Authorities across the 33 Local Governments receive circulars, alerting them of this exercise, ahead of its commencement on November 26, 2019”, he said.

He maintained that although the board was also looking into ways of engaging in preventive other than curative measures, it was practically impossible for Oyo State Government alone to engage in such activities without involving NGOs.

His words:  “School-based de-worming exercise for primary school pupils in Oyo State is an exercise which shouldn’t be taken with levity, considering the havoc some of these neglected tropical diseases may have caused in some parts of the country.”

The executive chairman added that the state government is fully aware of the dangers involved in the neglect of tropical diseases, saying, “this is why the Government is lending its full backing of the de-worming exercise.”

He also expressed optimism that the de-worming exercise would be extended to out-of-school-children in each local government of the state.

The visit by the team was to intimate the board of the forthcoming de-worming exercise, which serves as curative measure for some tropical diseases, especially in rural areas in the state.

Commencing on November 26, the exercise is an annual outreach organised by the state primary health-care board in collaboration with Evidence Action, targeted at primary school children.

De-worming drugs, such as, Mebenzdazel and Praizquantel will be administered on every child, while it would end on November 29, 2019.

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A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, which was made public on Monday in Ibadan, confirmed that the sum of N400 million has been advanced to the secondary schools, while the primary schools got the sum of N126 million.

The amount is to cover the running grants of the schools for the first term of the 2019/2020 academic session.

According to the state government, principals of secondary schools as well as heads of primary schools across the state had been mandated to open accounts to receive the running grants.

There are 640 secondary schools spread across the state, which have already started benefitting from the N1,000 per child per term budget for the schools.

“With the number of students in the secondary schools put at 400,000 and at N1,000 per child, the state would be spending the sum of N400 million a term on the secondary schools. The final figure for secondary schools would terminate at N1.2 billion per session,” the statement reads.

The statement also indicated that the N126 million approved for the primary school has been released to the heads of the various schools.

Whereas the Ministry of Education is managing the disbursements to secondary schools, the State Universal Basic Education Commission, SUBEB, is handling the disbursement to primary schools as running costs

“The release of the funds is a fulfilment of Governor Seyi Makinde’s free education policy, which is already yielding positive results across the state,” the statement further indicated.

According to the statement, “the Governor of Oyo State has approved the disbursement of school running costs to primary and secondary schools. As we speak, all the schools should have been credited except those who failed to supply the required account details on time.

“We want to charge all stakeholders in the school system to judiciously apply the funds. They should also take note of the fact that the government will demand accountability on every kobo released to the schools.

“On no account should any school administrator join forces with unscrupulous elements who are seeking to derail the free education policy, which the government of the day in Oyo State is diligently implementing.

“The government will deal decisively with anyone caught attempting to derail the free and qualitative education policy or extorting students under whatever guise,” the statement reads.

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