By Felix Khanoba
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has renovated 287 schools and more than 4,000 classrooms nationwide as part of a broader intervention aimed at transforming learning environments rather than concentrating only on individual classroom projects.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Aisha Garba, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja while commissioning renovated facilities at the LEA/Junior Secondary School, Nyanya-Hausawa and Model Girls’ Junior Secondary School, Lugbe.
Garba said the commission had adopted a whole-school approach to infrastructure development, with interventions now covering classrooms, toilets, water supply, power, administrative facilities and learning resources.
She said the new approach was designed to ensure that schools receiving government intervention had the basic facilities required to provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning.
“Under the Renewed Hope agenda, President Bola Tinubu has mandated us that all children, regardless of where they are, should be in school and we should make sure that schools are in conducive environment for learning.
“This has been one of our key mandates, and since the coming of this administration, we have taken that directive seriously.
“We have done different reforms within the education sector under the leadership of our two Ministers,” she said.
According to the executive secretary, UBEC has also established minimum standards for new school infrastructure, requiring projects to provide essential facilities as part of an integrated development plan.
She listed the facilities to include perimeter fencing, security infrastructure, solar power, boreholes, adequate toilets and classrooms, administrative blocks and playgrounds.
The commission, she added, was also incorporating computer and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratories as well as smart boards into school infrastructure, in line with the need to prepare Nigerian children for the demands of the 21st-century education system and global economy.
The Nyanya-Hausawa school, according to Garba, was among the beneficiaries of the intervention after being found in a dilapidated condition.
The school accommodates Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), primary, junior secondary and senior secondary sections.
The current intervention covers the renovation of three blocks containing about 30 classrooms and 48 toilets, alongside the provision of solar-powered boreholes.
The toilets were connected to the water supply from the boreholes, while Garba said UBEC would undertake further work at the school, including the provision of an administrative block.
Beyond physical infrastructure, the commission also commissioned 74 digital learning centres as part of efforts to expand technology-based education.
At the Model Girls’ Junior Secondary School, AMAC, where one of the centres was commissioned, Garba said more than 2,000 digital learning centres had been established under the Tinubu administration.
She said the centres were equipped with computers, smartboards, solar panels, burglar-proofing, printers, scanners and internet connectivity, while also providing online and offline learning content for teachers and students.
Garba added that teachers were being trained to effectively use the digital facilities and educational content.
Earlier, the Director of Physical Planning, UBEC, Ibrahim Nura, said the Nyanya-Hausawa school was among the commission’s intervention projects across the country.
Nura said the school had been severely dilapidated before the intervention, with some facilities considered unsuitable for effective teaching and learning.
He explained that UBEC carried out a condition assessment of the school before commencing work to identify its specific infrastructure requirements.
According to him, the intervention had significantly improved the school environment and provided better facilities for pupils, students and teachers.
The Principal of the Junior School, Nyanya-Hausawa,Gideon Isah, commended UBEC for the renovation of the classroom blocks and provision of furniture for staff and students, as well as the solar water system.
Isah recalled that the school was previously in a deplorable condition, with some students forced to sit on bare floors because of inadequate furniture.
He said the rehabilitation had boosted the morale of both teachers and students and created a more conducive learning environment.
However, the principal appealed for the construction of an administrative block, saying the primary, junior secondary and senior secondary sections of the school currently operate without one.
He disclosed that the community, working with the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), had employed three security personnel to safeguard the renovated facilities against vandalism.
Isah assured UBEC that the school community would maintain the facilities and ensure their proper use.
