By Adebisi Adeyemi, Lagos
Stakeholders in education Sector in Oyo State have celebrated the state’s performance in the recently released WASSCE results, urging the state government to continue to enforce its education reformation policies.
The Stakeholders, who were represented by the State Chairman, National Parents, Teachers Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), Comrade Moshood Abayomi, the State General Secretary, All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Pastor Babajide Emmanuel and First Vice-President (ANCOPSS), Comrade Fadare Mojirade, led their members to the State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology recently to show their appreciation to the government for its efforts towards the development of education in the state and deliberate on issues relating to schools’ resumption.
NAPTAN Chairman, Comrade Abayomi thanked the State government on behalf of the parents for enforcing good education policies, saying that the implementation of the policies looked difficult at the beginning but the end has justified the efforts of the government.
He said, “We, parents, in Oyo State owe our amiable governor and the State government extreme gratitude for seeing all the policies to fruition. It was initially difficult but we all knew it was like weaning a baby who has been attached to his mother’s breast-milk. Today we are better for it.
“We are using this opportunity to call on other parents to please inform their wards that it is no more business as usual. Security agents will be on the lookout for students that roam the street when schools resume. We also urge the government to continue with these policies as they are bringing about the needed result in improving our schools and students.
“The SGB is the driver of new faces of schools in major communities in Oyo State today. Old students and community leaders are building classrooms, fences and providing furniture because we have all realized that the government cannot do it alone,” Comrade Abayomi said.
Comrade Abayomi warned parents to inform their wards of government’s zero tolerance for street roaming by students as they would soon resume for a new academic season, appealing to the state government not to rest on its oars and consequently pledged that NAPTAN would continue to give the government the necessary support to sustain and improve on the good results being recorded in recent times.
The ANCOPSS Vice-Principal, Comrade Fadare said that it was worthy of celebration as the State broke the jinx of eighteen years of poor performance in WASSCE with an outstanding 54.18% performance in 2017 in a year in which the national average was 59%
She noted that the much-touted ‘Change’ mantra would be nothing if achievements like improved academic excellence were not witnessed, adding that the shift from the poor performance of students of past years to the recent one was remarkable.
According to her, “Today is a day of joy to us as teachers and Principals in the State on this remarkable improvement in the performance of our students. The various efforts of the present administration to bring sanity into education and academic performance in the State have been yielding fruitful results with this 54.18 percentage performance.
“Moral ethos is now back in our schools and values lost over time are being entrenched through government’s introduction of policies like the School Governing Board (SGB), which gives some responsibilities to the community and stakeholders to develop the school. Look at the OyoMesi intervention project, the ban on automatic promotion, launch of Education Trust Fund and the government’s pledge of about N5bn for renovation of schools throughout the State. They are good policies that are already bearing results. We are all happy for this change in the academic performance of our students,” Comrade Fadare added.
The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Adeniyi Olowofela in his response, thanked the stakeholders for their belief in the present administration’s policies which he said were formulated with their input.
Olowofela said it was clear with the result of the intervention programmes that politics should not be mixed with important social services like education, promising the stakeholders that the administration would not relent in putting more efforts into improving the current standard.
