The Executive Chairman of Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Prof. Femi Akinwumi has dissociated the Board from the purported letter written by the School Based Management Committee of Elemi Community Primary School, Afao Road, Ado Ekiti which has elicited controversies on the social media alledging the Board demanding for financial assistance to execute infrastructural projects in government owned primary school .
Prof. Akinwumi while reacting to the letter said it was part of the strategies by the Universal Basic Education Commission in collaboration with SUBEBs to embark on execution of SBMC’s projects known as SBMC – SIP for the purpose of improving on the infrastructural facilities of public primary schools across the states of the Federation.
He highlighted the projects to include Micro,, Macro and Special Case whereby a total sum of N1 million, N2.5 million and N5 million is budgeted for the projects respectively, adding that for each of the projects, the SBMC of the benefitting Schools are expected to provide 10 percent of the project fund as counterpart fund before approval is given by UBEC.
According to him, the school was being proposed for a macro project for a sum of N 2.5 million and was expected to pay the counterpart fund of N250, 000 only, adding that the aim was to claim ownership for the community and the school’s SBMC for the purpose of safeguarding the projects against damages and vandalism.
Prof. Akinwumi however denounced the attitudes of the SBMC of Elemi Community Primary School, Ado Ekiti for looking outside its SBMC for unspecified fund to finance a project yet to be approved for the school and described such as a sabotage against the free and compulsory education policy of the state government.
While affirming that the SBMC has the provisional right to provide for the 10 percent counterpart fund in both cash and kind to make it eligible for the programme, it was not part of its duties to go about asking members of public for donations in churches and other religious settings. describing such as move against the government which is working round the clock to provide an enabling environment for effective teaching and learning to take place in the state’s public primary schools
In a letter written to the School’s SBMC to condemn the action, Prof. Akinwumi said the school has always enjoyed Government’s presence as a block of 3 classrooms was recently constructed for the school, adding that the school was also considered for perimeter fencing in the on – going 2023 UBEC/SUBEB Intervention projects.
The letter reads in part, ” It came to me and the state government as an embarrassment that the above named school has written a letter to the public soliciting for fund to execute a project.
“It is true that UBEC in collaboration with SUBEBs from time to time embark on micro macro and special case projects known as SBMC-SIP to execute infrastructural projects which is part of the commission’s school improvement strategies
“However, neither UBEC nor SUBEB expected the SBMC of any school where such project is to be executed to raise a 10 % counterpart fund outside its SBMC
“To this end, the State Universal Basic Education Board absolutely dissociate from the move by Elemi Community Primary School Afao road Ado Ekiti and condemn the act, as it was against the free education policy of the state government.”
The Chairman said the SUBEB Management has stepped into the matter for thorough investigation and directed the withdrawal of the letter which he said did not get the approval of the Board and the State Government..
He urged the public to disregard the on – line meda report in connecticn with the purported letter, saying that it was the imagination of mischievous elements who always look for frivolous reasons to discredit the present administration and disrupt the good image of Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, adding that no amount of media propaganda would ever deter him from working for the state.