NAN-H-17
Protest
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, Oct. 30, 2016(NAN) A Socio-Cultural group, Oyo Development Initiative, has condemned recent protest by students in Oyo State over the new government policy abolition automatic promotion for secondary school students.
This is contained in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Dr. Adesola Okanlawon and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Sunday.
Okanlawon condemned the violent protest by the students, decsribing it as sad, and said government must punish those involved.
“It is sad that we now have touts in school uniforms. The action of the students is rather unfortunate and all hands must be on deck to deal with the situation.
“Even, students of higher institutions rarely destroy government properties during their ‘Aluta’ days. One now wonders what students of secondary schools have turned into.
“To repeat a class is not a new thing and students who are adjudged to have failed are expected to repeat the class.
“The recent statistics of students’ failure released by the government shows that education is on the verge of collapse if the government does not take strict measures to save it,” he said.
The coordinator said giving automatic promotion to students in spite of the poor performances was unacceptable.
“We urge the government not to treat the recent protest with kid gloves and call on them to ensure that strict measures were put in place to prevent future occurrence.
“Parents of the affected students and schools should also be invited for talk and made to sign an undertaking of good behavior,” he said.
Okanlawon called on stakeholders in the education sector to support government initiatives to reform the sector.
The coordinator urged the media to continue to educate and sensitise the public on the need to establish a new education order in the state.
NAN reports that under the new policy, only students who score 50 per cent and above in their core subjects, including Mathematics and English would be promoted.
The government said it would not reverse the policy in spite of the protest by the students.
Some secondary school students in the state had on Thursday, Oct. 27 staged a violent protest over the policy, during which facilities in several schools were destroyed.
The protest had led to the closure of five schools in Oyo town and two in Ibadan.(NAN)
TAA/JPE/MZA
Edited by Joseph Edeh/Maharazu Ahmed
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