The children of Watuwul at Ugege Utonkon in Ado Local Government Area of Benue State are learning in school sitting on a wooden plank.
The community primary school that is the only source of education in the area has a majority of its funding from parents of the pupils who contribute money to pay the teachers and carry out repairs on the school.
Worse still, the Benue State government approved the sum of N132.5 billion for her 2021 budget. And, out of the amount, the state set aside the sum of N N41. 7 billion.
The state government while presenting the 2021 approved budget said her main concern is to revamp educational and health infrastructure. The state added because of the COVID-19 impact, a substantial amount of money will be set aside to facilitate e-learning across the various levels of education as well as e-commerce.
Good as the state sounds, Watuwul community is yet to see the impact of government in their area as children have since continued to learn sitting on wooden planks
Although the school has been in existence for some years, it has depended on the community members who are peasant farmers for funding.
MAWA FOUNDATION learned that teachers in the school hardly get paid, and in cases where they get paid, that happens twice or thrice a year.
MAWA could not immediately reach out to Mr. Ogaba James Oche, the Ado Local Government chairman for a response as all efforts made to speak with him proved abortive.