The Osun State Government has dismissed claims that public primary and secondary schools in the state are collapsing or facing closure due to shortages of teachers and basic facilities, insisting that no school will be shut under Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The Chairman of the Osun State Teaching Service Commission, Temitope Mustapha, made the clarification on Friday in Osogbo during a one-day workshop for members of the state’s Timetable Committee.
Mustapha said education remains a top priority of the current administration, stressing that both urban and rural schools are being strengthened rather than neglected.
He described reports suggesting that rural schools are shutting down as false, attributing such narratives to what he termed “enemies of progress.”
“No school is going into extinction in Osun State. Our students in rural areas performed excellently in NECO and WASSCE, which helped the state move from 30th to 7th position nationally,” he said.
“The insinuation that rural schools are closing down is false. Under Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration, no such thing has happened and it will not happen,” Mustapha added.
He disclosed that newly recruited teachers have already been deployed to rural communities to bridge manpower gaps and enhance teaching quality across the state.
The commission chairman also cautioned school timetable officers to take their responsibilities seriously, describing them as critical to effective academic planning.
“Every teacher, except principals and vice principals, must be placed on 24 periods per week,” he said.
The clarification comes amid criticism from the opposition All Progressives Congress.
The Director-General of the party’s campaign committee for the forthcoming Osun governorship election, Wole Oke, had alleged that state resources had been mismanaged over the past three and a half years.
Oke also claimed that public schools in the state were deteriorating, citing inadequate infrastructure, shortage of teachers, and declining student enrolment.
However, the state government maintains that ongoing reforms and investments in the education sector are yielding positive results and will continue to improve learning outcomes across Osun.