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)
