Any student found disobeying school rules and regulations risk expulsion, the government of Osun said on Tuesday.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola while commissioning the ultra-modern St Michael’s RCM Government Middle School, Ibokun, said all aggrieved parties in the recent court judgement over Hijab should channel their grievances according to the rule of law and not result to self help.
He distanced his administration from the court judgement that allowed female Muslim students to wear Hijab to school, saying the Judiciary is an independent arm of government, the decisions of which are not subject to any influence by other arms of government.
Aregbesola stated that there are other legal options opened to any party who feels strongly about the judgement, adding that appeal is the best option in this situation.
“It is funny for some people to insinuate that government has a hand in the judgement. The government is a democracy, not a theocracy. Any student found disobeying school rule and regulation risk expulsion from our schools.”
The Governor said it is not the business of any government, through the schools, to lead a child in a particular religious direction. “That will be for parents and religious institutions, in private capacity, until the child is grown enough to make a decision on religion.
“The government therefore cannot support or be seen to be supporting a particular religion. The government is a democracy, not a theocracy. I believe also that parents and society should complement the government in shaping the minds of the pupils to be receptive to knowledge and godly character formation; to be sensitive to the need of others, the plurality of our society and the imperative of mutual toleration.
“They should also be brought up to be team players, even when in a competitive environment. It amounts to subversion of the educational needs of a child for them to be drawn into and used for political purposes.”
Speaking on the mega school which he opened in Ibokun, Aregbesola said his administration is not just building schools across the state because it wants to show off or has too much money and looking for grandiose projects to spend it on.
He assured at the opening of the N164million project that none of the ongoing projects in the state will be abandoned.
He chided the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the state for ascribing the project of school buildings to funds from Federal Government describing it as misleading and mischievous.
The Governor noted that the opposition in their character went about slandering his administration when it dawned on them that they have failed the people of Osun when they were in Government.
He added that, assuming without conceding that the money is from federal Government, questions should be asked on what did the PDP do with such fund when they were in power.
Aregbesola stressed that the commitment of his government on education stems from the belief that the purpose of education is for the development of the new man intellectually, socially and morally.
He said that the new man government is building in students across the state is placed in the centre of society, who views his own development as part of and for the development of society.
The Governor held that the middle school being commissioned, like the others in the state, has the maximum capacity for 1000 pupils, 28 classrooms, an ICT room equipped with 30 computers, 24 toilets for pupils and teachers, three head teachers/principals’ office, one staff room.
He listed others as one facility manager’s office, a multi-purpose hall, food court, library, sick bay, security/reception gatehouse and recreation zone.
“We are building a total of 170 state of the art schools with 100 of them at Elementary, 50 Middle Schools and 20 High Schools. Out of these, 14 Elementary Schools, 15 Middle Schools and 11 High Schools, including the one we are commissioning today, have been completed, to the glory of God.
“Some are already commissioned while others are receiving finishing touches and waiting to be commissioned too. We are going to complete them before the expiration of our tenure. None of our projects will be abandoned.
“The school being commissioned today cost the government a sum of N164 million. This includes the cost of the structure, furnishing and landscape development. In spite of the lean resources of the state, expending this sum on a school is a mark of our commitment to basic education”.
Aregbesola added that government has attached performance index to continuity and promotion for all public workers, stating that every teacher will now be assessed based on performance on teaching and grooming of their pupils and being a role model to them.
He averred that It will be absurd to retain and keep promoting teachers whose pupils continue to fail both in learning and character, noting that those who do well will be rewarded.
Earlier in her speech, the Deputy Governor, who also doubles as the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, said the commissioning of the school was yet another glaring testimony of government’s resolve to turn education around in the state.
She stated that the mission statement of the Aregbesola administration is to provide a conducive atmosphere in all the three structural categories of elementary, middle and high schools across the state.
She noted that the vision of the government in Osun is to make education sector the best in Nigeria.
Adding that by the time all the schools were completed and put into use, the state will take its rightful position in the comity of states in the federation, she said “The mission state of our government on the education sector is to provide a conducive learning environment across the three structural categories of schools.
“The vision of this government is to be the undisputable leading light in education in Nigeria,” she stated
The Principal of the school, Pastor Titus Olawoyin, commended the governor for his achievement in education.
Olawoyin said through the erection of his school’s magnificent building, stakeholders in education in the state will forever remember Aregbesola’s administration.
He noted that teachers in the school will also be grateful to the Governor for the magnificent edifice he turned their school into.
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