The Osun State Government has dismissed allegations by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, that public schools in the state are plagued by inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of teachers.

 

 

The rebuttal was issued on Friday in Osogbo by the Chairman of the Osun State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Temitope Mustapha, during a one-day workshop organised for members of the state’s timetable committee.

 

Mustapha stated that the administration of Ademola Adeleke had prioritised education and was committed to ensuring that no school in the state was neglected.

 

He said both urban and rural schools were benefiting from ongoing development programmes, contrary to claims suggesting that some institutions were being abandoned.

 

According to him, “No school is going into extinction in Osun State. Our students in rural areas have performed excellently in external examinations, including NECO and WASSCE.”

 

Mustapha added that the improved academic performance had contributed to the state’s rise from 30th to 7th position nationally in recent rankings.

 

He described reports of school closures in rural communities as unfounded, insisting that such claims were being spread by “enemies of progress.”

 

“The insinuation that rural schools are closing down is false. Under this administration, no such thing has happened and it will not happen,” he said.

 

The TESCOM chairman disclosed that newly recruited teachers had been deployed to underserved areas to strengthen staffing levels across schools.

 

He also charged timetable officers to uphold professionalism, describing them as critical to the effective coordination of academic activities in schools.

 

“Every teacher, except principals and vice principals, must be assigned 24 teaching periods per week,” Mustapha stated.

 

However, the Director-General of the APC Campaign Committee for the August 15 governorship election, Wole Oke, had earlier criticised the state government, alleging poor utilisation of resources.

 

Oke claimed, “We don’t have school buildings, we don’t have teachers, and our children are no longer attending public schools.”