Lagos to combat overcrowded classroom

LAGOS – The Lagos State Government on Thursday said
that it would channel its available resources to combat overcrowded
classrooms in public schools in the state.

Mrs Gbolahan Daodu, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Universal Basic
Education Board (SUBEB), disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Lagos.

Daodu said that the state government was working toward having not
more than 50 pupils in a classroom, as required by standards.

She stressed that the influx of people to the state everyday poses a
serious challenge to the policy.

“We will try and accommodate all pupils but the influx of people into
the state is a challenge.

“Lagos is a small state with limited land space, yet millions of
people come in on a daily basis and they expect the government to
cater for them.

“We are striving to meet the need of all of them.

“Our attempt is to ensure that we do not have more than 50 pupils at
the maximum, in each class,“ she said.

Daodu said that state government would provide access to education for
pupils, irrespective of the challenges confronting schools in the
state.

She, however, said that the lack of land space, funds and construction
timeframe had been responsible for the overcrowded classrooms in some
schools.

The SUBEB boss said that the state government would overcome the
challenges with more financial resources at its disposal.

“In a state where there are no lands to build new schools, paucity of
funds and longer construction time, we will definitely have
overcrowded classrooms.

“Within the available resources, government is making efforts to
combat overcrowded classrooms in our schools.

“We will accommodate all pupils that want to go to our schools, not
minding the challenges that come with it, she said.

Daodu, however, appealed for more financial resources to be provided to SUBEB
to enable it to effectively tackle the challenges.(NAN)