Education in Oyo State has never been the same, ever since Governor Seyi Makinde was sworn into office. One of his many achievable visions is to turn Oyo State to the hub of education tourism in Nigeria, not just at the basic level but also at the tertiary level. Makinde has been pursuing this goal, with every day spent in the office as the governor. He promised to invest on infrastructure in the state and he has worked hard to ensure that infrastructural development is not restricted to just one zone of the state.

In education, investments have been put in place at all levels. It is on record that the Governor made it known to the State House of Assembly that for the 2022 Budget proposal, the budgetary allocation for Education sector is Fifty-Four Billion, Two Hundred and Sixteen Million, Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven Thousand, and Sixty-Nine Naira (N54,216,227,069.00), which represents 20.87% of the total budget dedicated to education in Oyo State.

Makinde in his 1st year of administration focused about 12% of 2020 budget into the education sector completing over 307 projects with 236 on going projects. He also implemented the #30,000 new minimum wage for civil servants in the state. Both civil servants and pensioners, are paid on the 25th of every month. Not only schools were built, but educational materials were also shared in large quantities, to the students all over the state.

The Governor in his 2nd year in office focused on the construction of 26 model schools, the construction of 87 classrooms and office blocks, the renovation of 132 classrooms, the installation of 52 boreholes and improvement of the sanitary condition of existing schools through the construction of toilets. In all, the Makinde administration completed over 300 projects in the education sector alone. He also recruited 5,000 teachers across the State to meet up with the demand for more manpower in the sector. Not only were they recruited but also trained on best practices. More recently, the administration completed the recruitment of 692 education officers in the state.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Monday, said his administration has completed over 600 projects in the education sector over the course of the past two years. He said his administration is able to fix hundreds of projects in the education sector because it paid Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) counterpart funds of N1.51 billion for 2019 and 2020 which enabled the state to access requisite matching grants.

Review of Governor Seyi Makinde’s Achievements in Education (2 years in Office)

The achievements of Governor Seyi Makinde in education for the past two years in office are but not limited to:

1. Increase Access to Quality Education at Primary and Secondary Levels for all Eligible Oyo State Children by 10%. Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration inherited 272,847 out-of-school children in Oyo State. His administration has been able to get 54,569 children (10,914 boys and 43,655 girls) back to school. This reduces the number of out of school children by 20%.  All state-owned schools continue to operate the no fees and levies policy which his administration instituted when he assumed office in 2019.
2. Provision of scholarships for brilliant students to encourage competition in public schools.
3. Seek support from Alumni, foundations, international donors and private organisation for development.
4. Improve teachers’ quality through adequate training and development.
5. Refurbish dilapidated school buildings and classrooms.
6. Provide adequate furniture for students and staff.
7. Improve class size for effective teaching and learning.
8. Supply of equipment for science and laboratories.
9. Effective school feeding programme for pupils to enrich their health and learning capabilities.
10. Monitor standards of learning and teaching in state schools through an effective team.
11. Take stock of the physical, human, material and other facility needs of public schools and ensuring their supply.
12. Set new targets for high performance of the school system in the state.
13. Ensure judicious use of available resources to meet stakeholders’ expectations of the school system in the state.
14. Making technical, and polytechnic institutions in the state more practical oriented through real skills acquisition. This could be achieved by linking graduates of these institutions to firms and individuals where they can acquire the relevant skills that will make them practice on their own.
15. Setting up a functional Educational Management Information System (EMIS) for the state. This is a technologically based computer managed data system that aids efficient information management for quality decisions about the education sector.
16. Regulating the operation of private schools in the state. This will ensure that private schools operate in line with the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard that guarantees quality educational service delivery.
17. Introduction of Adult Literacy Programme to promote lifelong learning among the growing population.
18. Teacher/pupil ratio to 1:30. 5,000 teachers were recruited by TESCOM targeted at bringing teacher/pupil ratio to 1:30 in the state-owned public secondary schools.
19. Paying special attention to underserved geographical areas in Oyo State. In the past one year, renovations of secondary school buildings were completed in 22 Local Government Areas including the remotest part of the state. In all 60 classrooms were renovated while 30 new classrooms were constructed at the cost of N465,951,679.58.
20. Oyo State Government has distributed various learning materials to 21 public special primary schools and 12 public special secondary schools in the state. Some of the items distributed are crutches, wheel chairs, 5KVA generators, Perkins Braille manual typewriters, Braille letter keychains, hearing aids, walking sticks/mobility canes, Index Everest braille embossers, Duxbury braille translators, educative toys, JAWS for Windows (single interface), audio meters, universal braille kits, Braille math’s blocks, Braille alphabet charts, talking calculators, First Aid boxes, reams typing paper, overhead projectors, Joy Singing (3^rd edition), mattresses, HP desktops, charts, domino cube puzzles and VCDs.
21. Develop a sustainable educational teaching and learning materials policy. The existing policy was reinvigorated and strengthened in the state’s education service delivery at all levels. The COVID-19 pandemic led to innovations to the policy and the delivery of education services through:

1. Virtual learning on app and website
2. School on Air

22. Ensure adequate provision of quality buildings and classrooms for all education sub-sectors.

Since assuming office, Governor Seyi Makinde has worked in line with his manifesto, The Roadmap to Accelerated Development in Oyo State, 2019-2023. He has followed this plan as he prioritises the four pillars of governance upon which the map is built – Economy (through agribusiness), Education, Healthcare and Security. The Seyi Makinde led administration did a proper homework and right directives were set to achieving an improved education sector.

Amidst all, His Excellency has changed the overall facet of the education sector in Oyo State for better, a lot of projects are still ongoing. The achievement of Governor Seyi Makinde in the education sector in Oyo State, is truly remarkable.