Governor Kayode Fayemi has commended Ekiti teachers for their dedication and commitment to building the education sector to the enviable heights it had reached.

Fayemi, who stated this in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday during the 2022 World Teachers Day, disclosed that the commendable attitude of teachers informed the various exploits his administration has recorded in the education sector, urging them to brace up for the task ahead as the new administration would take the baton of leadership in few days.

The highpoint of the ceremony attended by teachers from the 16 local governments and 19 LCDAs was the presentation of cheques of N10 million each to the best teacher in primary and secondary schools categories.

The beneficiaries are Adeyemi Omolade of SUBEB Model School, Omuo Ekiti for the Primary Category and Kupolati Mary of Ilejemeje Community High School, Iye Ekiti for the Primary Category.

Other awards include 26 consolation prizes of N100,000 each cutting across both primary and secondary schools while the first runners-up got N1million each and the second runners-up got N500,000 each.

Fayemi noted that the quality of their teaching and the friendly learning environment provided in schools resulted in increase in enrolment of children in schools.

This, he said, culminated in the establishment of additional 10 secondary schools in 2021.

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The governor added that at the wake of his administration in 2018, he re-established the free and compulsory education programme and abolished levies on primary school pupils and secondary school students to forestall enrolment of children and ensure that no child drops out of school through the Executive Order 001.

He explained that the effort has made the state record the lowest out-of-school children and highest enrolment in Nigeria, urging teachers to maintain their hard work to improve on the remarkable performance of students at both internal and external examinations.

Dr Fayemi disclosed that a total 1,558 teachers were employed and 886 projects executed between 2018 and 2022. They include construction of new blocks of classrooms, perimeter fencing, modern toilets, renovation of old blocks of classrooms and provision of school furniture among others.

At the event, which was attended by the Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr  Olabimpe Aderiye, Fayemi canvassed support for the Governor-elect and assured them that he would accord teachers’ welfare, entitlements and promotion the deserved priority.

“Today, I have come to thank you teachers, for your contributions and the values you have added. We are very proud of your outstanding performance that earned us the National Best Teacher of the year in 2020 and the 1st Runner Up in 2021. We also had national awards of the best public primary school and the best approved private secondary school in 2021. Ekiti was one of the award winning states in the 2021/2022 National Mathematics Day and SDG for Girls Child.

“As a result of the quality of your teaching and the friendly learning environment provided in our schools, enrolment increased from 191,117 in 2018 to 261,292 in 2022. This increased enrolment automatically resulted in the need to establish additional 10 secondary schools in 2021. The number of public primary and secondary schools in Ekiti increased from 901 to 906 and 196 to 203 respectively between 2018 and 2022.

“Moreover, 1,558 teachers were employed by SUBEB, TESCOM and BTVE within the past four years. The provision of free, compulsory and qualitative education to Ekiti pupils and students has been at a great cost to us as a Government. So far, we have disbursed N655 million as running grants to public schools in Ekiti State.

“Similarly, we have paid a total of N1,044,941,450 to enable 57,465 public school students sit for WAEC examination over the past for years. This is to ensure that, irrespective of the socio-economic status of their parents, they have the certificate as a proof of the education they have acquired.

“I am glad that all the efforts are yielding the desired results. Ekiti is one of the two states with the lowest out-of-school children in the whole of Nigeria (MICS 2021) and an 80.4% early childhood development index which is above the Nigerian average of 47.7% (MICS 2021).

The Star