Osun Govt De-Worms Pupils

Osun government has reiterated its commitment to physical and mental fitness of elementary school pupils through the school feeding programme called O-Meal and its de-worming exercise.
The Deputy Governor, who doubles as the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, told newsmen that the programme was to facilitate the growth of the children for excellent performance in school.
Laoye-Tomori said the government had recently flagged off the second phase of the ”de-worming exercise” for school pupils at the Government Elementary School, Isale Osun, Osogbo.
According to her, the deworming exercise will complement the feeding programme to facilitate a healthy growth in the pupils.
She said that a report that put the percentage of retarded growth in school pupils at 40 per cent was worrisome.
The deputy governor, however, noted that the administration of Gov. Rauf Aregbesola had successfully fought retarded growth in school pupils with the O-meal in place.
She said that the government would make de-worming exercise a bi-annual programme and would not relent in the feeding programme.
She said that the government annually spent N3.6 billion on 300,000 elementary school pupils across the state under the school feeding programme.
NIGERIAN OBSERVER