The Office of the Senior Special Assistant, SSA,o Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, to Oyo State governor, has donated 150 cartons (14,850 textbooks) of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development textbooks to primary schools in Oyo State, under the auspices of Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, OYOSUBEB.
A statement by Michael Ogunsina, on behalf of the media team of Oyo SUBEB, said that the donation was in fulfilment of the SDGs’ pledge to collaborate with Oyo SUBEB on provision of quality education for public primary school pupils in the state.
Speaking at Oyo SUBEB’s car park, where the donation took place, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on SDGs, Mr. Kunle Yusuff, said the 14, 850 textbooks would be distributed freely to pupils in Primary 4, 5 and 6.
He affirmed that “we are convinced that education is key to unlocking Oyo State’s greatest potential, hence, our huge investment in educational intervention programs.”
Yusuff added, “We will continue to do our best to create community-focused initiatives to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal, SDG, Number 4, which seeks to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030.
“We donated the students’ edition of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development textbooks, not just to provide quality education in the public primary schools, but to also create a model for educational experience for our children.”
Mr. Yusuff assured the Board of further collaborations with his office, noting that basic education forms part of his office’s key targets.
Responding, the Executive Chairman of OYOSUBEB, Dr. Nureni Adeniran, promised that the texts would be part of school curriculum and learning materials for social studies and basic science in all schools.
He posited that with the spate of educational development in Oyo State, schools would soon start recording zero dropout among pupils; with improved learning outcomes in speaking, reading and writing among the pupils.
Dr Adeniran said, “The achievements recorded have been made possible by the critical roles played by Governor Seyi Makinde; the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC; and other partners such as the Office of the SSA on SDGs, who are committed to sustaining the impact of this project.
“We are currently working on how to distribute this intervention to all local government Universal Basic Education Authorities.”
The Chairman also admonished teachers to see to it that the textbooks are used for the purpose they are meant to serve.
The event was witnessed by representatives of UBEC; Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT; and other stakeholders in the basic education sector.