The educational sector has faced infrastructural challenge in the country. Chairman of the Lagos State Special Committee on the Rehabilitation of Public Schools (SCRPS), Hakeem Smith, in this interview with BERTRAM NWANNEKANMA provides insights on how states and Federal Government can copy the Lagos model to address this challenge.

What informed creation of SCRPS and how has it fared in addressing infrastructural challenge in Lagos?
SCRPS is an interventionist agency into the public schools of Lagos State. Before its creation, the state of infrastructure in schools was very deplorable. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in his wisdom, thought it fit to incorporate or reincorporate the agency. SCRPS has existed in the days of President Bola Tinubu as a governor.

Then, a lot of rehabilitation works were done in Lagos public schools. The intervention was continued by former Governor Babatunde Fashola. But afterwards, there was a change in government policy, which couldn’t continue with the intervention.

However, Governor Sanwo-Olu, shortly after assuming office, felt that for us to bring our schools back to the state they ought to be, we needed to revive SCRPS again. So, the committee was re-inaugurated in November 2019.

The Terms of Reference include: assessments of the schools to ascertain their state of deterioration, preparation of Bill of Quantity to put the schools back into standard, that is, habitable and conducive state for learning. We also provide school furniture, because some of our schools don’t have adequate furniture.

So, it’s not just rehabilitation. We also do new constructions. We have inadequate number of classrooms in line with the population of the state.

When we go to site, we do an assessment based on the population of the school. Where we have too many students in a school, we build extra classrooms for them: So, that they can be well-seated in class.

We rehabilitate existing buildings too, if we discover that they have been weathered or bad over time because of use.

At times, we work on the roofs and windows, screed the floor, provide toilet facilities, and all other ancillary works to enhance the beauty of the schools. So, basically, we ensure that the school infrastructure, both physical infrastructure and other facilities are put in proper shape to ensure that the environment is good enough. So that when the pupils have break time, they have a place to play around.

You know, students need to dissipate energy. So, we have recreation facilities, football pitches and tracks.

To achieve that, what is the composition of the SCRPS’ board?
The SCRPS board consists of five members, which were constituted on November 4, 2019. It comprises an engineer, an architect, a lawyer and the board secretary, and myself; a quantity surveyor. As the Chairman of the Committee and a project manager; I’ve been an industry practitioner for over 30 years. I think with that knowledge, we’re able to do a lot of things, which is huge.

From your own assessment, how has it been?
In the last 18 months, we have done a lot. We have rehabilitated 186 blocks of classrooms in secondary schools and 184 blocks in primary schools. We have also constructed 1,926 new classrooms, built eight new hostel blocks in Lagos Model Colleges with about 1,592 beds in the hostels. We also provided 208,000 dual composite chairs and desks. They were supplied in batches to the public schools.

The committee constructed five new schools at Elemoro Community Junior Secondary School, Ibeju-Lekki, Ajegunle Junior Secondary School, Oke-Odo Junior High School in Ebute Meta and Edwin Otumara in Ebute Meta, among others.

We also ensure that we have recreational infrastructure as much as a school has a space for it. Then, we also tried to do what we call modular constructions. It’s an innovation as regards our lT-driven schools. We have them at Girls Junior Secondary School, Ikoyi; Baptist Junior High School, Obanikoro and Ogba Junior and Senior Grammar School.

Basically, it’s just about building schools with containers. But it’s not just about the containers that we use to build in schools. The real issue is that it is high-tech-driven schools. You know, in our days, and maybe not too long ago, we have blackboards, we have white chalkboards, we have boards that we use pens. But now, we are trying to bring in technology so that we have interactive screens, so that the teacher can be using the screen to teach. Students have their iPad or their phones. And what is being taught on the screens and the laptops. So, when you are at home or anywhere, you can actually do the learning on your own. That’s the concept, we call modular because of the type of construction.. There has been new technology in teaching, rather than the old white chalkboard or whatever we were doing before. Teachers were given tablets, and we made sure that they were trained. So, whenever you are teaching in Lekki, the curriculum you have in Lekki is the same as one in Ikotun. So, they balance the curriculum.

Beyond the SCRPS Board, who else are you working with? What is the role of the Ministry of Education in this?
We work with some other agencies. We don’t work in silos. We work with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget for budget provisions and also project management monitoring, because when contracts are awarded, we ensure proper compliance to specification and monitoring. We don’t assume the contractors are working but that they are being properly supervised. We have a third eye on our side that monitors the projects. Again, we also work with Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (LASPPA); they’re the ones that are in charge of selecting contractors. They ensure accountability and transparency in contracts in the state. We’re in charge of ensuring that goods and services are done in a proper way. So, in LASPPA, they have a portal, they do registration of contractors and ensure that contractors have the competencies to do the work. So, we will just go to their database to pick contractors. We work with them. And, most importantly, because we are dealing with schools in most of the work we do, we work with the Ministry of Education.

I won’t build what is not needed. The Ministry of Education is in charge of education policies, quality assurance and quality control, textbooks, examination, teachers’ training, and all of those things. We make sure that the facilities they use are put in proper shape.

So, we will not go and renovate or build any new school without them. We work together to ensure that we are dealing with what they want, because they are our end users, so to speak. To top it all, the Governor is the father of all. He gives approvals and gives direction on how we work. He established the agency and we make sure we comply with the THEMES agenda of his administration, because education is the third item of the THEMES agenda. So, we make sure we align with the THEMES Agenda, like we always say in Lagos, ‘No Child Will Be Left Behind!’

How many schools in Lagos have benefited from this modular school concept?
Because it’s new, we want to make sure that we do it in all the six educational districts. Right now, one has been completed about almost one and a half years ago, the Vetland Junior and Senior Grammar Schools. Three are ongoing now, and definitely before the middle of next year, they will be completed. We have it in Obanikoro, Ogba, and Ikoyi. So, basically, you can see that we have spread it. We should be doing the remaining two in District 2. Because it’s new, we need to test run it to make sure that every district has all of that. What we do in SCRPS is to ensure that whatever budget we have, we spread it.

How do you pick your projects?
What we do is, if we have the budget, we share it among the six educational districts. It is not done because you know the chairman, or the governor. So, we make sure that we spread everything, up to even the furniture that we produce. If you see a scale of furniture we produce, you would be surprised that you would be having almost the same quantity every year, except a little bit of more to one side.

So, what we do is that, because District 1 Alimosho is the biggest, if we have an odd number, we give them that preference. That’s what we do. So, we make sure we even provide all the deliveries in all our schools, both for new construction, and renovation, and even the classrooms. Going back to the modular construction, we make sure that every district also has one at least. Then, we can now expand the deliveries over time.

How has high inflation impacted on your job?
Basically, there’s no lying about this fact. Reality is reality, and construction is scientific. We had the inflation challenge, but to the glory of God, because we are dealing with the government that set this place up, and in the heat of what it’s happening, we’re able to have those adjustments.

I recall the times that we had some projects that we had awarded before the high inflation creeped in, we approached Mr. Governor, he reasoned with us and allowed the adjustment of some of these contracts, and to the glory of God, the contractors have been able to deliver on some of those projects. So, I think we’re fine, because we have a governor that believes in us, and is also the father of the agency.

Do you have projects in the riverine areas? And what are the situations like?
That has always been. For instance, we renovated a school in Ebute meta, which has been commissioned. Also, in Makoko, there are some renovation works that are being done. We’re trying to build a new school for them now. However, the land they gave us apparently wasn’t approved because it wasn’t theirs. It wasn’t approved for schooling. I remember that I went there to do a survey, but later realised that, the land is not for school purpose. But we are still exploring the possibility of building a school in that environment. But, there are schools around there that people attend. There’s a new school we are building there. If you look on the Eko Bridge, look at your right, there’s one at a slope. It’s called Otumara Senior High School; it is an 18 class room block. You can see it on the bridge. On the Eleko beach corridor, there are schools there. About three weeks ago 10 people from the committee had to travel to go and do some inspections there, because we wanted to do some work there.

Which of the districts has ongoing projects as we speak?
As I said, every district. We have an 18 classrooms block on raft foundation at Odongunyan Junior Grammar School, Ikorodu, which is almost completed. It’s just for the students to move in there because it has both a junior and senior school. So, there’s a lot of work that we are doing there. But because they had a lot of issues in terms of flooding, we’re trying to work on that, so it doesn’t affect the school premises. Zumratul Islamiyah Senior High School is ongoing; the contractor is on the second floor now. And if you go to Badore Community Secondary School, an 18 classroom block is on going there.

If you also go to Elemoro Community Junior Secondary School, ibeju-lekki, work is going on there. I don’t know if you have heard about this Elemoro project? There is a senior secondary school we are building that should be about roofing level now. Then, Ogombo Community Senior High School, Ibeju-Lekki, that one is ongoing too. That was the school we built that has a ramp. We built a school for junior school that you can actually travel from the ground floor to the second floor. We did that because we couldn’t do the lift because of maintenance, we had a ramp that you can actually take from the ground floor to the second floor.

So, if you are physically challenged you can actually use that school. We have about quite a number of toilet facilities for them. We have ramps into the classrooms too for that school, because we wanted to make a statement that Lagos is not just about being on the ground floor.
If you are physical challenged, you can actually be in any floor as a result of the ramp facility.

Is that ramp only used in Ogombo or in all the projects?
No, but basically Lagos has facilities for students that are physically challenged. There are some schools that are for physically challenged depending on the type of challenge; you can go to those schools. But you know, at times you just want to like say this is Lagos. And it must always be the trailblazer. Let us do something that is different, that is unprecedented. There is no school in the whole of Nigeria that has that kind of facility that can take you from ground to first floor. Even if you are on a wheelchair, you can go and use the toilets. Because it is robust, it is big enough for you to go in. And you have classrooms, and the classrooms are well ventilated. We have 50 students in a classroom, because that is one of the things that we are targeting as regards the student classroom ratio. We make sure that we are just around the UNESCO standard. Because UNESCO standard is about 45 students per classroom, so we are trying to do 50. So, when we go about for assessment of schools and we realise that you have too much population, we divide the population by the number of classrooms. That gives us an idea of the number of classes we can add the school. And that is what we are doing. So going back to that question, it is not as if every school has that facility, because again, we are limited in terms of land in Lagos. So we don’t have that privilege in all of our spaces. So wherever we have such opportunities, we deploy. Just like the recreation facility in Elemoro, Vetland, Keme Balogun and Oke Odo. Some schools now have standard football pitch and tracks. Some even have multipurpose courts. They can do all sorts of games. But in some schools, they just add multipurpose courts. In some schools, it is just football. So it is a matter of land availability.

How do you ensure security, safety and maintenance of provided infrastructure?
In Lagos, we have the Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA), They’re in charge of maintenance of all government’s assets, not just schools, even hospitals, and some other facilities, depending on their terms of reference. So, LASIAMA is in charge of maintaining the schools.

So, they have been doing that. Normally, what they do is to engage a facilities manager for the year, so they will be paid to maintain the schools: Broken locks, bad Water Closets (WCs), broken windows and others. So once we finish any project, we hand it back to the user; and someone takes over for the maintenance. So they engage facility managers to make sure that it’s done. And again, Lagos also supports the principals with some running costs. So, they can also do little things from their pockets.

On security issues, we have guards and neighbourhood watch, which is another agency that normally helps with security. So, most of the schools have security men there. We also have in most of our schools a Watch Tower. If you are up there, you can see the entire environment. Again, we are deploying cameras into some of the schools.

Talking about security, do you deploy cameras to secure materials during projects?
Contractually, when you award a contract, the contractor will take over the site, which includes the materials and security. So they take responsibility for any loss. How have the committee interventions in the past 18 months impacted on the quality of learning, enrollment status, and others in the state? There is input, output, impact. So when you have an input, you have an output. If there’s no impact, you haven’t done anything. So basically, enrollment has increased in our schools, and it will continue.

Do you have an idea of the percentage?
No, no, you go to the Ministry of Education. I don’t have the data, but I know that enrollment has increased very well, and the slogan in Lagos education sector is ‘No Child Will Be Left Behind’. And so you can imagine when the schools are looking good, you’ll be willing to go there. For instance, the modular schools. That school has been visited by people from abroad.. When they saw it on social media, people came down to see, because that’s the first of is kind in the whole of West Africa.

So when you now have such facilities, it’s a kind of an encouragement to the public, to the people who cannot visit the school, why would I go and pay for private school?
We are even facing that challenge because of the new status of the school now, a lot of people are bringing their wards to our schools, from private schools to public schools, some even are coming from other states , the influx is huge, so we are dealing with that to make sure that we are providing classrooms for them and making sure they are comfortable, because an environment must be conducive for students to learn, if it’s not, it’s not going to be easy.

So that could impact, and the quality of the resources have improved, because again, not just because of the physical infrastructure that we are doing, even the training that the government is doing for teachers, and even the environment, the welfare package, the benefit the teachers have, and all this type of great innovations. So, the encouragement is not just physical infrastructure, but to make sure that there is conducive environment for the teachers. So that helps the enrollment and helps the results that we are getting from our schools.

Can we have an overview of the Tolu school complex in Apapa and the scope of work there?
Tolu is a story. I need to share. It started in the days of Alhaji Lateef Jakende. How they got the land, that was when the first schools were built there. The next school after Alhaji Lateef Jakende was done by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (the millennium school), so on and so forth. When we came in, as a committee, we got a list of schools to renovate. One of them came from the Ministry of Education. They are unbundling their project towards that. So, it was in that list that we saw two schools there to renovate. We did that one and two others, just renovation. It was a 12 classroom block. So, we finished renovation. So, during one of the visits, we met different principals, who were asking when are we going to help them do their schools? So, we decided to do a tour of Tolu Complex, so we can have an assessment of the school. So, we did we realised that Tolu Complex is not what we can’t be doing in silos. We should have what we call a regeneration of Tolu Complex. With that, we are going to convert from just Tolu Complex, maybe to Lagos Education City because the peculiarity of Tolu is that it has 31 schools, secondary schools and six primary schools, comprising of 16 senior secondary and 15 junior secondary schools and five primary schools. It is unprecedented in the whole of West Africa. We had about 20,000 students.

For me, Tolu Complex is a tourist attraction. We will do the walkways and the road networks; it’s a place that people will come from Finland, South Africa and all of that, to come and see the beauty of the place. So, what we are trying to do now is clean out the ones that can be cleaned out, add additional classroom blocks to complement what we have. We will make sure that there is security around all the boundaries. Now, in Tolu, unlike when you can just walk in and walk out, we have four major access to the complex. When those access are closed, you cannot enter the complex. It’s not the time that anybody can just go in here. So, we are having four gates. There’s a mega gate and three other gates to ensure that security is maintained, and the recreation has also been improved. We are building our own recreation. Even though I know that we are bounded by the Maracana Stadium on the right.