The Edo State Government on Monday, immediately began monitoring operations and inspecting schools around the state at the start of the second term of the 2022–2023 academic session.
Dr. Joan Osa-Oviawe, the Edo State Commissioner for Education, who led other government representatives on the school inspection, underlined the government’s commitment to rid the state of out-of-school children.
Imaguero Secondary School, Idia College, Edokpolor Grammar School, Eyaen Secondary School, Umagbae Grammar School, and New Era Secondary School, among others, are a few of the schools that have been visited.
She observed that despite the poor student turnout, teachers were present and engaged in all of the inspected schools.
The commissioner stated, “I have been quite pleased with the demonstrated dedication to service by our school administrators and teachers.” You will discover that instructors are at school today in all 18 local government areas where we have schools. But the number of students and students there was not what we anticipated.
“I’m appealing with parents and guardians to let their kids go to school. The ministry has stated that we must teach our pupils up to 400 hours per term in order to cover the curriculum since May of last year. Learning begins on the first day of resumption, and those who are not in school will fall behind.
“Due to this, we have now decided to begin carrying out the Child Rights Law, which has been in effect for a while. Education is free and required by law, and parents or guardians are subject to prosecution if they keep a kid who is of school age out of school.
We started the School O’clock program last term, she continued. The prosecution of these parents and guardians who refuse to place a high priority on their children’s education has been accelerated thanks to the establishment of a mobile court.
“Governor Obaseki had emphasized time and time again the need of providing every kid in Edo with a high-quality education for at least the first 15 years of their lives. Therefore, it is not acceptable to have school-age children loiter, peddle goods, or perform child labor during school hours. Our mission is to immediately intervene in that event and put a stop to it.
“School O’clock has begun. We have begun making arrests, and we will take any children we locate on the streets between the hours of 7:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m., Monday through Friday, to the location of their parent or guardian, pick them up, and book them for prosecution.”
“We understand the huge amount of resources Governor Obaseki is putting into education,” Oviawe said in reference to efforts to improve teaching and learning throughout the state’s schools. All non-tertiary education, according to him, is free. We at the ministry want to ensure that all auxiliary concerns that may adversely affect efficient teaching and learning are identified and solved. Wages amounting to billions are regularly paid.
We don’t want to breed hoodlums in the state, so we need to be responsive, force those who don’t want to do the right thing, identify those who need support and support them. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Edo State has the lowest number of out-of-school-children and we want to reduce that further.”
“Around 1,500 EdoSTAR teaching fellows are returning today across the 18 local government areas,” she continued. Because we intend to instill a performance-based system and train them for the next two to three years, we are referring to them as teaching fellows. In order to get them ready to work in our institutions full-time, a lot of polishing is necessary.