The Ogun State Government has threatened to sanction owners of private schools in the state that admit any student expelled from public schools.
The government also threatened to name and shame any culpable pupils at the school, zonal and state levels where any pupils were found wanting. The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbagbu, stated this on Tuesday, at a press briefing held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital to unveil the strategies mapped out to tackle juvenile delinquencies in schools in the state.
Arigbagbu stated this due to the series of crimes recently committed by pupils in public schools which led to the abrupt closure of some schools last year.
The Commissioner stated that the reason for the press briefing was to roll out the government’s strategies to tackle juvenile delinquencies and recent social vices in public schools in the state.
Arigbabu said the government would not only announce erring students publicly as a deterrent to others but will also reward and award best-behaved pupils who have distinguished themselves in academics and character.
Arigbagbu said that as a responsible government, it could not sit down and allow continuous misbehaviour in the state’s public schools.
The Commissioner ascribed these misbehaviours to bad parenting, social media, peer group, wrong role models, economic situations.
He also attributed lack of unqualified and unwilling teachers not using the right approach, shortage of teachers, sexual promiscuity, moral laxity, the craze for easy wealth, procrastination, low self-esteem, congestion of classes, security, dual registration and ineffective communication between teachers and learners to the challenges.
Arigbabu said the ministry would be holding a series of meetings with security agencies, principals and Heads of Schools, Parents and Teachers Associations and others, to form effective alliances against vices and juvenile delinquencies in schools.
He said, “We are taking very serious steps against crimes and criminality in both public and private schools and private school owners should co-operate with us in this fight. We are the ones that give licences to all the private schools and if any of them flout our directives, we can easily have their licences withdrawn.
“There will be naming and shaming such pupils that engage in crimes and juvenile delinquencies in our schools across the State. That will be done at school, zonal and state levels. We are also going to involve our pupils and engage in all sorts of extra-curricular activities to discourage the pupils from juvenile delinquencies.
“Students expelled should not be admitted into any public or private school in Ogun State, that is something that will be very difficult and that is why we put in place what we call the Learner Identification number.
“The E-platform we are using now will make it difficult for dual registration.
“Once you are in a school and you misbehave and you are sent away, it will be very difficult to get into another school in Ogun but, some of them will want to get into schools, and that is why we are meeting private school owners tomorrow, for them, we are going to put sanctions because we are the one that gave them operating licence if some of these schools flout some of these regulations we can withdraw their licence.
“All of us have to be on the same page because if we expel a student from a school it would have been the last resort and we don’t want a situation where the expulsion won’t be effective.”
