American Social Crusader once wrote that “education is the passport to the future because the future belongs to those who prepare for it today’’.

Some citizens in Osun observe that this statement is apt for describing the renewed efforts of the state government to breathe new life into academic programmes in the state for efficiency.

They stress the importance of quality education, observing that irrespective of the economic condition of a country, an educated individual has a better future.

In the light of this, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of the state has devised programmes to revitalise the education in the state.

The governor, in a bid to achieve excellence, has inaugurated education summit in which scholars and other stakeholders can come up with the way forward to rekindle the consciousness of academic excellence in the pupils and students.

Re-classification of schools to elementary, middle and high schools categories is a part of the highlights of the summit.

At the inauguration of the summit, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, the deputy governor of the state and Commissioner for Education, explained that “the re-classification policy is a conscious effort toward repositioning schools in our state to its rightful position of honour and excellence.

“It is not in any way a system of merger as some people mischievously say, it tends towards restructuring the schools in all ramifications for better performance,’’.

She observed that restructuring the moribund educational system in Osun and making it meaningful ought to start from the beginning.

“The basic education in the state must be made functional and efficient with desirable human resources and necessary infrastructure,’’ she observed.

In his opinion, Alhaji Fatai Kolawole, the Permanent Secretary of the State Universal Basic Education Board in Osun, said there was a priority on basic education by the Aregbesola’s administration.

“This is for the purpose of building sustainable and strong academic foundation for pupils in the state and making them responsible citizens.

“There is indeed a passionate focus and emphasis on basic education in the state that is what informs the reclassification of schools for greater efficiency and optimal maximisation of human resources.

“The policy intrinsically reforms the 6-6-3-4 and spread the two six to 4-5-3 where a pupil will spend his four years in the elementary school, another five years in the middle school and the rest three in the high school.

“No fewer than 10,000 teachers have been employed between 2012 and 2013 into elementary and middle schools through a very transparent process.

“The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board conducted aptitude test for applicants to make appointment transparent’’, he said.

He observed further that Aregbesola accessed a loan to the tune of N11billion for the provision of infrastructure in the elementary and high schools in the state to make learning easier for pupils and students.

According to him, the governor also introduces school feeding system in which pupils at the elementary schools are given lunch daily.

“This gives them the sense of home-away-from-home, the policy that the government still sustains up till this moment in spite the economic distress.

More than N2.5 billion was spent annually to feed more than 252,000 pupils,’’ he said.

In a speech while inaugurating Anthony Uduofia Government Elementary School in Osogbo recently, Aregbesola reiterated his resolve to build 100 elementary schools in which more than 15 had been built to near completion.

He re-emphasised the need for prioritising basic education as the bedrock for reliable and strong educational system.

The governor disclosed that the government had spent N140 million on the 1000-seat capacity school named after the first military administrator of the state, retired Navy Capt. Anthony Uduofia.

According to the governor, the school has more than 600 pupils and hopes to get more pupils to fill up the vacant seats.

“I am happy and fulfilled to have public schools that are of world standard in Osun — a 1000-capacity elementary school with 20 classrooms –where 50 pupils will be in a class with two teachers.

“We spent about N140 million to complete the school out of about N11billion we got as bond from a bank in 2012,’’ Aregbesola said.

Aregbesola, however, cautioned that it was wrong to use funds meant for building infrastructure to pay salaries, imploring the youth to brace up and engage in productive activities that could create jobs and wealth.

Concerned citizens in the state also recall that, the most unique development in the educational sector of Osun is the Community Based School Management Committee.

They note that the reason for the committee is to bond the people in the community and the schools together.

“When each community sees the neighbourhood school projects as its own, a sense of collective ownership and a bond with the school becomes feasible.

“With this arrangement, administrative control of the schools becomes easier. Discipline is enforceable and it cuts across both the pupils/students and the teachers’ divide.

“The socio-cultural value of right and wrong reinforces the school discipline which in turn reinforces the socio-cultural value,’’ Mr Folasayo Abefe, a civil servant in the state, said.

For Aregbesola, one of the best strategies to maintain the beauty, sustainability and functionality of educational institutions is to make the host communities take up their ownership.

He observed that the practice “is not just a global practice; it is self-evident that those imbued with the right sense of ownership are in the best position to drive an organisation successfully’’.

The members of Community Based School Management Committee are drawn from the 30 local government areas of the state.

They will work as management committee in elementary schools; management board in middle schools and management council in high schools.

Kolawole opined that the committee was set up to rejuvenate and reform the education at elementary, middle and high schools in the state.

By and large, concern citizens in the state give kudos to the state government for its pragmatic efforts at making basic education more efficient.

They, nonetheless, plead with the state government to ensure the sustainability of the programmes aimed at making education efficient in the state.(NANFeatures)

**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria.