In the best interests of the young students, Prince Segun Okunoye, the coordinator of the Old Students Association of St. Thomas Catholic Primary School in Odo-Oro, Ekiti, has pleaded with the Ekiti State Government and other education stakeholders to prevent the school and other areas of the community from being completely neglected.
Okunoye repeatedly emphasized the need for citizens to work with and support the government in raising education standards, particularly at the elementary level.
The alumni coordinator, who spoke at Odo-Oro when the old students handed over a block of three classrooms which they renovated to the school management and government officials, encouraged government to, as a matter of necessity, attend to the other blocks to motivate the youngsters in learning.
Okunoye said, “The old students were moved by the pictures and videos of pupils learning under the deplorable structures and decided to pull resources together for the renovation of the block of three classrooms.
“With the limited resources available to us, we set to work and completed renovation of the building we are handling over today preparatory to the resumption of academic activities for the new session”.
He said there were three other dilapidated buildings requiring immediate attention, saying, “We want to call on the state government, the State Universal Basic Education Board and other governmental agencies to urgently come and assist in renovating the remaining buildings in this school”.
The Onise of Odo Oro-Ekiti, Oba Babatunde Jemilehin, praised the alumni’s act of kindness and urged the state government to build and refurbish the community’s outdated classrooms in addition to those at the school.
Oba Jemilehin, who harped on the need for the state government to act fast in giving primary school pupils in the community befitting and conducive learning environment, said, “It is in this spirit that I am making this passionate appeal to the government to come to the aid of our primary schools in Odo Oro Ekiti.”
Chief Idowu Adeyemi, the school’s head teacher, praised the older children for their kindness and said it would go a long way toward lessening the pain of the students and staff.
