The Ondo State Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools; Comrade Tajudeen Balogun; has asserted that no nation can rise above it’s level of exposure to education.
He made this assertion on Monday while answering questions from journalists in his office in Akure, the Ondo State capital, where he spoke about the worrisome level of out-of-school children; especially from the northern part of Nigeria; the hundred percent enrolment of students for the external examinations in Ondo State and other sundry educational issues.
“The administrators and those in government must do all it takes to ensure that the worrisome level of out-of-school children especially in the northern part of the country is tackled headlong and reduced; else, these youths will be idle, and we all know that the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. The end result will be that they will portend great danger to the society”.
“Take our Shasha and Sabo areas here in Akure, Ondo State for example. Our northern brothers who reside there don’t go to school. We have made several appeals to their leaders to help send them to school, but our appeals have oftentimes fell on deaf ears.
“ That is why we are appealing to our government to do something about this worrisome situation, bearing in mind that no nation can rise above it’s level of exposure to education”.
While charging students in Ondo State participating in the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) and other external examinations to prepare very well and come out in flying colours, he thanked the Ondo State government for paying for the entire fee of the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) of students from Ondo State.
“Every student in the final year classes enrolled for the external examinations, courtesy of the kind gesture of Mr Governor; Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu; who paid for the students’ enrollment. So, for us in Ondo State, it is 100% enrolment, and that is why we are charging the students to make good use of the opportunity to perform creditably well in the examination. This is the second year running that the Ondo State government will be rendering this kind gesture.”
While thanking the teachers in Ondo State for putting in their best in teaching students despite some shortcomings and inadequacies especially in the areas of the teaching staff’s strength, he however expressed his confidence in the words of the governor to recruit more teachers.
“I want to thank my teachers for putting in their best in teaching students despite some shortcomings like inadequacies in the number of teachers in the system. Already, the Ondo State Governor; Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu; has promised to recruit more teachers into the system, and we believe in him as he has always been ‘Mr. Talk And Do Governor’.”
Comrade Balogun also used the opportunity to call on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to reach a truce and call off the protracted ASUU strike as it will be; not only in the best interest of the university students; but also for the good of the society in the long run.
© PRESENT NIGERIA
