NEWS : A school in need

Dare Olawumi’s excitement to get to school each morning stops where his passion for education and his love for his class teacher end. As the assistant head boy for Ilakpo Community Primary School, a public school in Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area, Master Olawumi’s only wish is for his school to be better. “I like my aunty and my books but I don’t like my school,” he said.

Poor learning conditions

Bordered by bush and a church, with no water, toilet facilities and building structure, the school’s suitability for learning purposes is under question. The only physical assets are the roofing sheets used as cover from sun and rain, its chalk boards, which double as demarcation between adjoining classrooms, drums, and teaching aids. “We don’t like as we are,” said the 13 year-old primary six pupil. “Even when my friends see my school, they say ‘look at his school’, but they teach us very well, so I’m still happy when I’m coming to school in the morning. Sometimes when we are playing, we get injured because the ground is rough, and the pupils dirty the water we buy from outside. We don’t like it. We want our school to look fine. The noise from other classrooms and the church is also affecting us too much.”

When it rains heavily, the pupils are sent home to prevent any mishap occurring as a result of the flooding associated with the community. The lack of toilet facilities in the school also means that pupils have to make use of the bush anytime they need to relieve themselves, thereby causing a permanent offensive stench around the school compound. “We need toilet because we go to toilet in the bush; and we also need where to play,” said Esther Ayede, a pupil.

The need for a school

The school was founded when Beatrice Ayoade, a public school teacher, resolved to bring basic education to Ilakpo Community; as the hitherto closest public schools to the community are at Abule-egba, some kilometres away. Worried about the increasing number of school age kids roaming the streets of the area, Mrs Ayoade pressed for the establishment of Ilakpo Community Primary School on a communal piece of land, in January 2009. “I saw children going into the bush picking snails during school period, some roaming the streets, and some going very far to go to school, rushing for bus,” said Mrs Ayoade. “I approached the ‘baale’ (elder of the area) who showed me the community land set aside for school building. I rallied round the community for support and added my own money, and that led to the start of the school free of charge for the children of this community. The children told me that they don’t have the money to get private education.”

After its formal registration as a public school under the State Universal Education Board, four months later, the school received some support from the local council government and the education board. Some community members also contributed towards the provision of furniture, books, and covering. “The school belongs to the government,” said Mrs Ayoade. “They’ve provided furniture and books, but the building is still a challenge. We don’t have toilet or water, so the children enter the bush; but we monitor them so that they don’t go too far into the bush.”

Government’s response

A block of six classrooms for the school, being constructed by the local council, has been abandoned for over six months. It has become overgrown with bush, in spite of a contract board stating a contract duration period of ‘eight weeks’. Kenny Okunmuyide, the Chairperson of the council, said the contract board showed that work is ongoing there. “Are you compelling me or what?,” he said, reacting to a question about the slow pace of construction work. “You are asking all these questions on the phone and you expect me to answer? Come to my office.”