Olufemi Adediran 
The Old Boys’ Association of Abeokuta Grammar School, Ogun State, on Wednesday, lamented that the overpopulation of students in public secondary schools is killing the quality of education in the state.
The President of the Association, Sunday Oduntan stated this while briefing journalists on the activities to mark the 115th Founder’s Day anniversary of the school in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Oduntan said overpopulation of students in public schools has further worsened the infrastructure, lamenting that, the school could no longer continue to carry 7,000 students.
According to him, Abeokuta Grammar School has the second largest student population in the state, adding that 90 percent infrastructure in the school is built by the Old student association.
Oduntan lamented that many public secondary schools in the state have a ratio of 1,000 students to a teacher.
To address this, Oduntan appealed to the state government to cede the abandoned model schools built by the last administration of Ibikunle Amosun to Old Student associations to renovate so as decongest public schools.
Oduntan also called on the government to improve the standard of education by investing more in the sector, especially infrastructure.
He said, “When you have over 1,000 students per teacher, it is a problem and it will affect the quality of education.
“What the government can do is to either build more schools or build more classrooms in schools, I can tell you the number of classrooms built here (Abeokuta grammar school) by the government, we have been building classrooms with our money so we can let go of our value.
“Abeokuta grammar school has the second largest population school in Ogun state, while the Iganmode high school has the largest. Imagine a teacher marking over 1, 000 scripts, that is why many teachers give scripts to senior students to help mark. So, overpopulation in schools affect the quality of education.”
