In a bid to improve the educational sector, the Federal Government has entered into a partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in organising a ground-breaking ceremony on the construction of classrooms for primary schools in Oyo State.

The event, which is expected to record high profile visitors from the Ministry of Education including the State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi is scheduled to hold on Wednesday, August 12, 2015.

The Project for Construction of Classrooms for Primary Schools in Oyo State is one of the key grant aid projects supported by the government of Japan in the education sector. This is the third primary classroom construction project, whereas, the first was implemented in Kaduna, Niger and Plateau while the second was in Kano state.

The project highlights the construction of fully furnished primary school classrooms at existing schools, as well as toilet facilities where necessary. The classrooms are constructed according to UBEC design; however, reinforcements are made to the roof, windows and doors to enable
the structures last longer. A total of 807 classrooms, 486 toilet booths and 19 deep wells were constructed, during the previous Japanese grant aid primary classroom construction projects in the above-mentioned states.

In Oyo state, it is expected to construct 231 classrooms, 2 staff rooms with furniture and 218 toilet booths spread across 30 existing primary schools. The total amount of grant aid allocated by the Japanese government for the project is about 1.96 Billion Naira (1.28 Billion Japanese Yen). Physical construction commenced in June 2015 and is expected to be completed by May 2016.

Oyo state over the years has been beset with an underperforming education sector riddled with inadequate classrooms and a disproportionate student to teacher ratio. With the pace setter state now being a beneficiary of the largesse, the education sector in the state is expected to experience a facelift in earnest.

Other JICA’s activities in the education sector include the Project for Strengthening of Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE) in Nigeria. This project had been implemented from 2006 to 2014, aiming at training about 43,000 primary school teachers from three pilot states (Kaduna, Niger and Plateau). With the expansion to non-pilot states, there are now a total of 413 state trainers from all states.