The Oyo state government says over 1.5million remnants of the out-of-school students that have been absorbed into various public schools under the 2017 to 2022 Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA), will be mopped up and returned to the classrooms under the BESDA-Additional Funding (AF)-Transforming Education System at State level (TESS) programme.
The Permanent Secretary, Oyo State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Adeniyi Olusanjo,disclosed this on Monday
at the opening of a two-day training programme for School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) on Community-Driven Development Approach which held at Lagelu Grammar School’s Hall in Ibadan.
He explained that the programme was targeting mopping up the remaining 1.5million out-of-school students after those that have been successfully returned to classrooms under the BESDA within 2017 and 2022.
According to him,the state enjoys the privilege of been selected by the Federal government and donor agencies like the World Bank and GPE because of the success achieved by the State under the BESDA programme.
He added:“The TESS programme we are starting now is targeting mopping up the remaining 1.5million pupils that have been identified to have taken residence in Oyo State from far and neighboring States and even beyond the borders of Nigeria, due to the benefits derivable from the State’s free education system.
“Having noticed the success of BESDA within 2017 to 2022 in Oyo State, the World Bank, federal government and GPE decided to pick Oyo State, Adamawa State and Katsina State for the new project, which is to deliver the needed equitable access to out-of-school children in Oyo State.”
The State Coordinator of BESDA-AF-TESS, Dr. Bamidele Odekunle said the roles of the School-Based Management Committee was very germane to the success of the new project.
He maintained that the training, superintendent by the Oyo State Community and Social Development Agency (OYCSDA), was to prepare the representatives of the benefiting SBMCs for the work ahead, urging participants to note all the aspects of the training so as to have a seamless implementation.