Joan Osa-Oviawe, Chairman of the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), says Governor Godwin Obaseki has spent over N6 billion on educational materials for public primary schools in the last three years.

Ms Osa-Oviawe disclosed this on Tuesday during an interactive session with journalists as part of activities marking the third anniversary of Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST ).

According to her, the amount includes state and counterpart funding for infrastructure to ensure quality education.

She added that only 186 public primary schools had not been linked to the EdoBEST programme out of the 1,046 in the state.

“Governor Godwin Obaseki is using counterpart funding to improve basic education in the state. In terms of human and material resources, Obaseki’s administration is unquantifiable.

“We already know the cost to have every child in the classroom, including the training of teachers; the smartphones that the headteachers use to synchronise with the tablet of the teachers, the textbooks and other educational materials.

“Over 400 schools have been constructed and rehabilitated while furniture were also provided by the state government,” she explained.

Ms Osa-Oviawe explained that basic education remained free, and the government had been providing instructional materials since 2018.

About 3,000 graduates, she said, would be hired as teachers.

(NAN)