No fewer than 2,500 pupils of primary and secondary schools in Ondo State have received free textbooks and other school materials from the Rubber Estates Nigeria Limited.

According to the acompany  the move was part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, saying it remained committed to assisting the communities in its areas of operation.

Among the schools that benefited from the gesture are Local Authority Primary School and Community High School, Araromi Rubber Estate, Araromi Obu.

The items donated to the pupils by the company are textbooks in subjects such as Mathematics, English Language, Social Studies and Vocational Studies and Agricultural Science.

The beneficiaries comprised pupils in primary one to primary six as well as students in the Junior Secondary Schools and those in Senior Secondary Schools.

Presenting the items to the beneficiaries at the Rubber Estate at Araromi-Obu, Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, the Managing Director of RENL, Mr Philippe Carty, said the motive behind the gesture was to ensure the school pupils got quality education.

According to him,  the company carried out the gesture on yearly basis to contribute to the development of over 40 communities within their areas of operation in Ondo, Edo, Delta and Ogun states .

Carty said  the company had always renovated and built schools within the areas of operation, adding that the company had been equipping the teachers to enable them to teach the pupils properly .

He said, “Every year, we allocate funds to specific projects in all these communities. We sponsor ceremonies and other programmes. Also, we award scholarships to 150 students every year at N120, 000 per students.”

In his remarks, the Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Femi Agagu, expressed appreciation to the donor, saying the gesture showed the readiness of the company to partner the government in providing qualitative education for school children in the areas of its operation.

Represented by the  Area Education Officer, Odigbo Local Government, Mr Olabanji Ogundele, the commissioner said the  government alone could no longer bear the cost of financing education and he called on the organised private sector and  philanthropists to assist the government in ensuring that all children were well educated and equipped for a better future.