The Osun State Government will be saving N8.2 billion annually through the distribution of the Opon Imo (Tablet of Knowledge) to pupils.
Instead of spending the fund on the purchase of books, the government will spend only about N200 million on Opon Imo.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola made this known yesterday while distributing educational materials worth N30 million to scools at the multi-purpose hall of the Local Government Service Commission.
The materials include 10,000 daily attendance registers, 11,600 school record diaries, 150,000 continuous assessment report cards for Junior Secondary Schools and 145,000 continuous assessment report cards for Senior Secondary Schools.
Others are 7,000 white chalks, 70,000 cumulative record folders, 7,000 chalk board renovators and 30,000 chalk board dusters.
The governor said with the downloading of 56 textbooks on 17 subjects into the Opon Imo, pupils only have to carry a digital device about, adding that this makes learning easier.
Instead of being criticised for spending N200 million on Opon Imo, he said his administration should be praised for the initiative.
He said about 150,000 tablets are to be distributed to pupils across the state.
Aregbesola said his administration is investing huge funds in education to instil a minimum level of value in every public school pupil.
He said: “Were we to buy 56 textbooks for 17 subjects offered in Senior Secondary Schools for 150,000 pupils. Over N8.4 billion would have been spent annually as against the N200 million expended on Opon Imo.
“Instead of being praised for God’s endowed ingenuity and wisdom, which gave birth to the Opon Imo initiative, some people prefer to demonstrate their ignorance. They are grandstanding and claiming what they are not.”
The governor described the score card of the last administration in the education sector in its 90 months in office as a far cry from his administration’s achievements in 27 months.
He warned teachers against sharp practices in the distribution and utilisation of the materials and urged parents to monitor their children.
Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/osun-to-save-n8-2b-annually-through-opon-imo/