Oyo govt restates ban on illegal fee collection in public schools

WARDC urges govts to legalise safe school declaration

The Oyo State Government, yesterday, reiterated that the ban on the collection of illegal levies in public schools was still in force, warning that it would deal with anyone contravening the ban.

Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (OYOSUBEB), Dr NureniAderemi Adeniran, gave the warning in Ibadan, yesterday while monitoring examinations in schools.

This is coming on the heels of reports that some errant teachers have compelled pupils to pay for the ongoing second-term unified promotion examination for public primary schools.

According to him, the current administration in Oyo state, since inception, had been responsible for the printing of question and answer sheets for its unified examination exercise.

He said that while the government had cancelled the payment of fees by pupils and students in public schools, some errant members of staff still imposed illegal fees in some areas.

Chairman of the board, who was accompanied by Co-ordinating Director of OYOSUBEB, Olaide Ladipo; deputy directors and assistant directors to monitor the schools’ examinations, therefore, urged parents and guardians to report any collection of illegal fees to the Board.

IN another development, the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) has advocated that the safe schools declaration of the Federal Government should have legal backing and be domesticated by state governments to curb the menace of abduction of school children.

This was the outcome of a webinar organised by WARDC, yesterday.

The virtual event, with the theme “Shaping the Narrative on Safety and Security in Nigeria,’ was attended by stakeholders in the education sector, and members of civil society organizations, including the Bring Back Our Girls campaign.

The stakeholders called for more than a policy statement from the Federal Government to express its commitment to protecting students, teachers and schools.

WARDC also said that the government should finance safe schools, because some relatives of the kidnap victims from Kuriga in Chikun Local Council of Kaduna State had said that schools in their community were not safe and conducive for learning for their children.

Meanwhile, Founder of WARDC, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, who had done some interventions in Kaduna and Bauchi states, said: “We had seen schools without perimeter fencing, and other threats that students are exposed to, even health issues.”

She said that not much of the implementation of the national policy on safety and secure schools had been seen.