Makinde Set To Educate Over 170,536 Hawkers, Almajiris For Free

The Oyo State Government has announced that it is ready to employ the World Bank-assisted Better Education Service Delivery (BESDA) takeoff grant in educating about 170, 536 out-of-school children and hawkers.

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde

With a population of over 3 million in Ibadan, only 23 out of 33 local government areas will receive this new development.

The government is set to receive an initial BESDA grant of $3m to commence the programme in Ona-ara, Kajola, Surulere, Saki West, Akinyele, Olorunsogo, Iseyin, Saki East, Oyo West, Ogbomosho South, Ogbomosho North and Iwajowa.

However, councils of the state which include; Ogo-Oluwa, Ibadan South East, Oriire, Oluyole, Afijio, Oyo West, Ibadan South East, Egbeda, Oreloope, Ibarapa Central and Ibadan North East will benefit from the project.

Dr. Nureni Adeniran, chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), disclosed this on Monday after a two-day interactive session held in Ibadan regarding the implementation of the project.

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Adeniran, reiterated the Oyo state government’s resolve to ensure that they enrol all out-of-school children and put them in public schools, saying the programme would cater for even hawkers and the Almajiri in the state.

In his words,

“Despite all the hiccups, I strongly believe that the essence of BESDA, which is to effectively take all the out-of-school children off the streets and draw them back to schools, will be accomplished in Oyo State.

The state government will ensure that a total of 62,733 hawkers are taken back to school, while 107, 803 Almajiris will be taken off the streets in the Oke-Ogun region of the state. I can tell you that Oyo SUBEB has embarked on strategies that will ensure all out-of-school-children are returned to schools before Year 2022.

Oyo state as one of the participating states in BESDA, will ensure that all out-of-school-children are brought back to schools within the years of the programme implementation in the country as a whole”

The Head Coordination Support Team, BESDA, Iro Umar, said the State has a good team to implement the BESDA project, adding that the state, through its SUBEB, has met necessary requirements and has the drive to ensure the programme comes to a fruitful end.