Funmi Olaitan, Ibadan

Oyo State government on Monday, stated its preparedness to pull down dilapidated secondary school buildings in the state in the coming days

Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Adeniyi Olowofela, who made the disclosure during the monthly statutory meeting with stakeholders in the education sector, said School Governing Boards (SGBs) in all the 628 Public Secondary Schools have been directed to demolish the structures so as to avoid imminent collapse.

He said the old buildings had been turned to havens for hoodlums and criminals, stating that they have to be pulled down as the state government has decided to fund the construction of new buildings to replace them.

The meeting, held at the Conference room, Ministry of Education, Agodi Government Secretariat, Ibadan had in attendance, Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Directors, Zonal Inspectors of Education (ZIEs) , Local Inspectors of Education (LIEs) a

Olowofela said, "These buildings are dangerous and as  ‘no go areas’ for students, and therefore the government is issuing this directive because the government is proactive and can't afford to wait for a bad incident to happen before taking necessary steps".

According to him, more worrisome is that these old school buildings are now becoming havens for criminals, noting that "the buildings can be used by criminals to perpetuate criminal acts like raping of young girls ”.

Olowofela added that the governor had approved construction and rehabilitation of no fewer than 100 secondary schools across the 33 local government areas in the state based on needs and strategic locations.

He then described the Education Inspectors as influencers, urging them to complement government huge investment in the education sector through adequate monitoring to ensure that teachers and students are alive to their responsibilities.