Ogun to penalise parents over pupils’ absenteeism: Agree?

Charges miners to satisfy home-based consumption

Ogun State Government yesterday warned that henceforth it would penalise parents and guardians whose children or wards absent themselves during school hours without reasonable excuse.

The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Modupe Mujota who gave the warning at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abeokuta, the State capital insisted that government would now monitor the movement of pupils and students in public schools across the State.

According to her, “Government will penalise parents whose child is not in school when he or she is supposed to be. We will send out officials to visit homes whenever a child is not in school to ascertain why”.

She said the free and qualitative education policy of the government was to ensure that every child has access to education and called on parents and guardians to desist from sending their children or wards to hawk goods when they are supposed to be in the classrooms.

Mujota also disclosed that teachers would be registered for easy identification as well as the conduct of background checks on them to guide against rape, assault and other vices on the pupils and students.

She described teachers as the bedrock of the education sector, maintaining that government would liaise with professionals and artisans to train teachers on the practical aspect of the newly introduced entrepreneurial subjects.

The Permanent Secretary, Teaching Service Commission, Mrs Olabisi Akinnuga, called for a synergy between the Ministry and its parastatals in the area of training and re-training, monitoring and evaluation of teachers to get the best for the students.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Kolawole Fagbohun called for proper streamlining of supervision of the education sector among other supervising agencies to avoid conflict of interest.