Oyo Education Commissioner Denies Plan to Return Schools to Former Owners
The Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abdulrahman Abduraheem, has denied reports suggesting that the Oyo State Government is planning to return some public schools to their former owners.
In a statement issued at the weekend, the commissioner clarified that the government has never indicated any intention to hand over public schools to private or former proprietors.
According to him, the only recent public discussion on school ownership involving the state government took place when Seyi Makinde, the Governor of Oyo State, spoke during an event at Loyola College, Ibadan.
He explained that the occasion was the inauguration of a hall named after the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu. At the event, Governor Makinde merely advised members of the old students’ association to channel any request regarding school ownership to the Ministry of Education.
Abduraheem further disclosed that the state government has only prepared a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to guide the proposed management arrangement at Government College, Ibadan (GCI).
He stated that the planned takeover of the school is to be carried out by the incorporated trustees of GCI, made up of representatives of the school’s old students’ association and nominees of the government.
According to the commissioner, the new management structure at Government College, Ibadan is intended to serve as a pilot model and a testing template for any future arrangements concerning the management of public secondary schools in the state.
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He emphasized that the initiative should not be interpreted as a policy to return schools to their former owners, but rather as a carefully controlled framework to improve administration and outcomes in selected institutions.
