Uso Old Students Tasks Ondo Govt To Rehabilitate School Building

By Niyi Olutunde, Akure

Ondo state government has been urged as a matter of urgency to rehabilitate the Uso Grammar School in Owo Local Government area of the state following it current dilapidated state of condition.

The school which was only government grammar school in Uso and serves about 15 communities in the area established on 12th September, 1975 has experienced disarticulation and rearticulating as a result of the Federal government policy on education.

When our correspondent was at the school, the present condition of the school has become worrisome which needs the government attention in order for the students to be learning in good atmosphere.

Most of the class rooms has been damaged to the extent that the students have no option to sit under the building to take classes now.

While speaking with journalists at the first annual general meeting of the old students of the school, the Asao of Uso Land, Chief Adedayo Adejuwon said most of the existing structures in the school are now in a very terrible state.

Chief Adejuwon also double as Interim Chairman of the association however called on the state government to have the school in mind in term of good infrastructural development.

“I want to also seek the cooperation of those of us who are in government or close to the corridors of power and every old students members towards achieving the success of whatever project we want to handle now or future” he said.

The Principal of the school, Mrs Oluyinka Bayode in her welcome address said due to the non implementation of the policy in the state, the school was later rearticulated in September 2011.

Bayode according to her, said that she has taken up from where the former principals stopped to encourage the Old students to be alive to their responsibilities since the government has mandated schools to involve the old students in the development and provision of necessary infrastructure towards the achievement of the educational goals.

She said, “the government emphasized the need to depend on your (Old Students) assistance and that is the reason we do not cease to call on you all the time. We wish to use this medium to appreciate all the old students who have been responding to the school’s call for support at all times”.

Speaking in the same vein, the Chairman, Parents and Teachers Association of the school, Mr. Oluwafemi Edward said he met the school in a critical conditions in process of where rainstorm have destroyed all the structures before they could be able to renovate two-three classrooms through the support of his executive and the principal.

Edward posited that they have been trying to repairing most of the dilapidated building since the establishment of the school in 1975 stressing that all their efforts to seek government intervention has not yielded a good result.

“We have to sincerely appeal to the state government to come to our aids in this community because this is the only government secondary school in Uso”.

The interim Secretary of the association, Mr. Olaolu Ayodele said all the structures in the school have been destroyed by the rainstorm saying that “no windows, no doors in all the classrooms not to talk of other facilities”.

His words, “There is a need to make the learning environment conducive for our students, the experience of our students here is disheartening because all the classroom are not in good condition for learning at all and they are not happy with it, even the staff room and Principal office are linking when its rain.

“We are appealing to Ondo state government under the leadership of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and well meaning Nigerians to come to our assistance as a matter of urgency because the damage done by the rainstorm is too enormous for us to do alone”.