Students’ Movement Made Easy As Aregbesola Introduces Omoluabi Scholar Bus By Joshua Dada The importance of transportation to human endeavour cannot be overemphasised. This informed the decision of the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola led administration in Osun State to take a bold step with the recent introduction of the Omoluabi Scholars bus service to ease the transportation of students in public schools. It would be recalled that the unacceptable state of education in the state when Aregbesola’s administration came into the saddle of governance informed the call for an education summit, attended by great educationists and intellectuals of all persuasions. Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka made time to personally attend the summit that made recommendations on which basis a complete overhaul of the education system of the state was done. One of the most important conclusions of the summit was the restructuring of the system into three basic categories, Elementary, Middle and High schools. Grade 1–4 is the elementary school, Grade 5–9 is the middle school, while Grade 10–12 is the high school. The hallmark of the new education policy in the state was the enhancement of welfare for both the teachers and students of all public schools in the state. Following the re-classification exercise, some schools were merged while a few others were phased out. Critics of Aregbesola’s new education policy pointed to the challenge of having to travel long distance to schools by students saying that this will definitely add to the burden of the parents. However with the injection of 30 new civilian buses for the transportation of students of public schools in the state, respite has come the way of both parents and students alike. The newly purchased civilian buses Tagged “Omoluabi Scholar Bus”, are meant to convey students from their respective homes to schools and back every school day. Speaking at the launching of the buses, Aregbesola said if the government’s quest for enduring socio-economic progress is to be achieved, government’s commitment to education and the future of the children cannot be superficial. The governor said his administration embarked on this laudable programme because it is dangerous to play politics with the education of children. He said that the realisation of the importance of education and development of human capacity prompted his government to create the best possible environment for the development of the total person. He described the provision of buses for transporting the students as another proof of government’s focused attention to education. “The buses we are rolling out today for the use of our High School students are another solid proofs of the importance and undivided attention our government genuinely accords education. “With the O’Scholar Buses, the culture of punctuality will be further deepened in our students. They will be encouraged to get ready in time for the bus and in so doing get to school on time. “And while on the bus to or from school, or travelling to and from school events, they will have the time to further bond together, reflect on their works and exchange useful ideas. “One of the unique characteristics of our administration’s programmes is that they ensure the empowerment of the people. This explains why no single household in all of the state is without positive testimonies of the impacts of our programmes on them,” Aregbesola said. He added that the buses will provide comfort and ease for students and parents and create employment for those, who will be driving the buses. In her remarks at the event, the deputy governor, who is also the commissioner of education, Otunba Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, noted that the provision of the buses is another demonstration of government’s commitment to providing quality and qualitative education for the children. She charged the students to make the best use of the buses and maximise the opportunities the buses afford them. The managing director of Sterling Bank PLC, represented by regional business executive, South-West (2), Mr. Ademola Adeyemi, said the bank finds it profitable to partner with the state government in providing the buses. Adeyemi noted that Sterling Bank will continue to partner with government in realising its noble programmes. He enjoined all the stakeholders to make judicious use of the scholar buses to the benefit of all. A week after the launching of the 30 buses, Governor Aregbesola increased the fleet of buses by additional ten 36-seater buses to complement the existing ones an indication that more and more buses will continue to be added to the existing ones until the available buses are sufficient to take care of the need of the students throughout the state. Though the buses were launched few days to the vacation of students for the third term holiday, the buses were immediately put on the road with students paying N20 as transport fare irrespective of the distance of the school to the student’s residence. One of the beneficiaries, Bisi Adefokun, a student of Baptist High School, Gbodofon, Osogbo, commended the governor for making education one of his administration’s top priorities. Bisi said Aregbesola’s government has made a lot of impacts such as provision of Opon Imo, Free school feeding, free uniforms, building of ultra-modern school buildings as well as construction of roads. She equally described the fare charged as moderate and called on her colleagues to patronise the service rendered by the buses.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 14:11:15 +0000
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