Saheed Ibrahim

No community or nation will attain meaningful development unless it prioritises functional education and technological growth.

Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Pastor Olufemi Agagu made this submission in Akure while presenting awards to winners of the 2022 quiz competition organized by the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry as part of the 2022 Science, Technology and Innovation week.

The Commissioner said the event was one of the strategies to lay an unfailing and enduring foundation for technological and economic growth of Ondo state and by extension, the nation.

He said the desire of the state government was to produce technically competent students who would be major players in the advancement of science and technology during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Mr. Agagu assured that government would not relent in its efforts at providing enabling environment for both teachers and students in their quest for acquisition of new knowledge and innovation for the advancement of science and technology is the state.

According to him, the efforts of the state government at promoting science and technology have resulted in winning laurels by the state’s representatives both at national and international competitions.

The Commissioner disclosed that the government of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu had procured and distributed science laboratory equipment and mathematics training kits worth over N90 million to public secondary schools in the state to encourage hand-on learning among students.

He, therefore, encouraged teachers and other stakeholders in the state to sufficiently guide the students so they could come up with projects and innovations capable of providing solutions to identified challenges confronting the nation.

Mr. Agagu explained that the idea behind organizing the annual Science, Technology and Innovation Week was to ensure that the Cognitive, psychomotor and affective domain of learning are harnessed to meet the education needs of the students.

The 2022 Science, Technology and Innovation Week featured quiz competition and project exhibition among participating schools.

In the quiz category, Deeper Life Secondary School, Akure came 1st, Greater Tomorrow Secondary School, Ikare, came 2nd Greater Tomorrow Secondary School, Agbaluku-Arigidi came 3rd respectively.

Also, Methodist High School, Okitipupa emerged winner of the project exhibition category,

Saint Peters Unity Secondary School, Akure came 2nd, while CAC, Oke-Igan High School came 3rd.