PRESS STATEMENT
We of
the ERC in strong terms condemn
the illegal detainment of under- age children by Ajimobi led APC government. We
therefore call for a Public Panel of Enquiry into the incidence at Isale-Oyo
Community high School. NLC, TUC and Oyo State NUT must declare a 48hours mass
actions across Oyo state in demand of the immediate and unconditional release
of the arrested students and for immediate reversal of the satanic promotion
criteria of the Oyo state Ministry of Education.
The Education Rights
Campaign (ERC), Oyo state chapter, calls for the unconditional release of secondary
school students arrested and currently being paraded before a state magistrate
court by the Ajimobi led APC government on account of the violence reaction against the rigid
promotion criteria of the Oyo state Ministry of Education for SSI and SS2 in
the state. It would be recalled that the state government through his stooge-
the Ministry of Education- gave an unwarranted promotion criteria for secondary
school students promoting to SSI and SS2 in the state and as such deny mass of
students graduation into the next class. It was observed that Secondary school
students across the state reacted in anger against this rigid promotion
criteria that denied them to promote to the next class. Some of them protested
against their teachers and some took their protest to the streets.
However,
part of these pockets of students protest against the rigid promotion criteria
was the setting of a classroom ablaze by students of Isale Oyo Community High
School. The subsequent arrest and detainment of these students who are not up
to 18years of age is condemnable as it is capable of creating monsters out of
these children of secondary schools. Instead of the illegal detainment of these
children we call for a public probe into the incidence that occurred at
Isale-Oyo Community High School. If the Ajimobi government is allowed to
continuously detain and arraign these children in court, they may eventually
become hardened criminals and monsters who will constitute more social vices in
the society than before. In fact, the Ajimobi government will use the
artificial crises created by his government in the Oyo state public education
sector to rubber-stamp his unpopular bid to sell off public secondary schools
in the state. Importantly, the right to personal dignity of these under-aged children as enshrined in
Chapter 4 of the Nigerian constitution (as amended) has been abused by the
Ajimobi government. The ERC therefore feel strongly that the setting of
classrooms on fire at Isale-Oyo Community High School is not merely a
demonstration of a few disgruntled students and criminals. Rather, it is a
product of students’ pent-up rage and frustration as a result of the various
anti-student and capitalist policies of poor funding of education and systemic
privatization of public secondary schools in Oyo state.
To
be cleared, the ERC is not averse to any disciplinary measure against students
that are allegedly involved in the dastard act of setting classrooms ablaze. However,
it is our concern that such disciplinary measure which we agree is necessary to
serve as a deterrent to others must have as its focus first and foremost the
need to correct and rehabilitates some of these students in order to save guard
the future of the state.
Unfortunately,
considering the sorry state of police detentions and prisons across the country
today, we are left with no option than to be worried that the arrest of these
students whose ages are between 12 and 15 years old and their subsequent
arraignment in court which has resulted into continuous detention of some of
them at police custody could lead to the creation of more monsters and beasts
in these students. Should this happens, will automatically mean a defeat of the
corrective and rehabilitative purpose which should be the central motive for
carrying out any disciplinary measure against any students that are culprit of
these dastard acts.
Given
the huge prospect for future negative implications and consequences inherent in
the arrest and continuous detention of these students, ERC is quick to call on
the senator Ajimobi/APC-led government in the state to consider the option to
review its stance over their prosecution and
order for the immediate and unconditional release of some of the
detained secondary school students with a view to set-up a democratic panel of
inquiry that will have as members representatives of trade unions ( NLC, TUC ,
NUT, ASUU, ASUP, NASU, SSANU etc); Association like PTA, NBA, pro-working
people civil society organisations as well as government functionaries should
be included.
The
task of this panel will be first and foremost to investigate the original cause
and perpetrators of the dastard act. This will be with a view to arrive at a
consensus as to the kind of disciplinary measure that will be appropriate
enough to end the growing
indiscipline, criminal tendencies and widespread abuse of drug among secondary
school students in the state.
More
importantly is the need for the state government to review its rigid stance on the
newly formulated promotion policy which obviously failed to take cognizance of
the poor state of public education as a result of gross underfunding and the
circumstance under which the examination itself was written. As a matter of
fact, we of ERC believe that, it is unfair and immoral for Senator Ajimobi-led
government in the state to continue to insist on a new promotion policy which
stipulate among other things that only students who score 50% in five major
subjects including English or Mathematics will transit to the next class when
the same Senator Ajimobi-led government like its predecessors has performed
poorly in term of adequate funding of education which is the root cause of most
of the crisis bedeviling education sector in the state.
It
is on this basis we call on the state government to be mindful of its rigid
stance on the so-called promotion policy and immediately release all secondary school
children in police custody. Should the Oyo State Government continue to insist
on unleashing his neo-liberal attacks on the public education sector in the
state, we of the ERC will be left with no other option than to declare a state
of emergency in the Oyo state public education sector.
Except
this new promotion policy is reversed, the ugly development in schools like
Isale-Oyo community high school and Anglican secondary schools where classroom
were set ablaze by aggrieved pupils is an indication that the new policy is
capable of triggering a worse phase of social tension and unrest that is
currently growing among secondary school students in the state. Again, ERC
believes that no amount of military intervention and draconian measures by the
Ajimobi government can curb this growing mass anger among students. At the same
time, we call on the workers unions (NUT, ANCORPS) and associations like PTA in
education sector to immediately convene and organize a conference of teachers,
principals, parents, pupils, pro-education civil society organizations and
other stakeholders in the education sector in the state to review the general
situation in the public education including the controversies surrounding the
new promotion policy. This is with a view to arrive at recommendations that are
capable of improving the standard of public education in the state. This kind
of a conference of stakeholders in education sector should be anchored on
meeting the following objectives:
- Proper funding of education to a minimum of 26% annul budgetary allocation as stated by the UNESCO reconmmendation.
- Immediate payment of all outstanding salary arrears own to teachers in both primary and secondary schools in the state.
- Immediate reversal of the new promotion policy. It is only a qualitative and well-funded public education can make the best students schooling in Oyo state public schools.
- The Ajimobi government and his counterpart in Osun state must immediately resolve the crises in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and re-open the university for immediate academic activities.
- All arrested and detained secondary school students must immediately and unconditionally be released.
The Ajimobi government must consider the
need to constitute a Public Panel of Enquiry that is to include NLC, TUC , NUT, ASUU, ASUP,
NASU, SSANU,ANCORPS etc and ssociation like PTA, NBA, pro-working people civil
society organisations as well as government functionaries.
- Capital NO to selling off of public secondary schools in the state. The APC led government of Senator Ajimobi must be committed to proper funding of the education sector.
- For a public and democratic management of public funds and resources allocated for the management of public schools under the public control of democratically elected representatives of NLC, TUC , NUT, ASUU, ASUP, NASU, SSANU,ANCORPS and the PTA.
Segun Ogun
Oyo state Coordinator
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