A former Special Adviser for Information and Strategy under the administration of Ex-Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Semiu Okanlawon has said gross indiscipline in schools is capable of turning states’ huge investments in education into colossal wastes.
He said this is why it’s imperative for states across the nation to put in place structures to enforce discipline in schools.
Speaking as the Guest Lecturer at the maiden edition of the Osun EduMarshals End-of-Session Evaluation and Awards Ceremony in Osogbo, the state capital at the weekend, Okanlawon said it is regrettable that over the decades the decay that came on education was not just about the physical infrastructure or decline in the quality of the teaching personnel.
EduMarshal, an organization created in 2017 by the Aregbesola administration came into being as a result of the disturbing cases of moral degeneration noticed in pubic schools.
The former aide to the former Governor said indiscipline, ranging from poor attitude towards learning to outright display of violence in schools among students and against teachers became rife.
He said in his lecture, “The results of these huge investments have come to manifest in the phenomenal rise in the rate of performance of Osun students in public examinations.
“While the Rauf Aregbesola administration inherited an annual average number of successful candidates with at least 5 credit passes in WASSCE of 11.6% during the four years’ period prior to the first term, the state under Aregbesola’s first term came up with a sustained improvement with an annual average number of successful candidates with at least 5 credit passes (including Mathematics and English Language) in WASSCE of 21% indicating 81% improvement over a period of four years,” he said
He added that no matter the investments in education, no meaningful improvement would be recorded if this menace is not curbed.
While lauding the former administration for coming up with the establishment of Edumarshals, Okanlawon said the organization has a duty to continue to enforce indiscipline to help the Gboyega Oyetola-led administration to sustain the huge legacies left by Aregbesola in the education sector.
At the event were the Governor of Osun who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebamiji; Speaker and former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Timothy Owoeye and Dr. Najeem Salam respectively.
The Governor, in his speech, which was read by Prince Oyebamiji, lauded the marshals for keeping hopes alive just as he added that the government would do all within its powers to protect education.
Salam, in his own remarks thanked Governor Aregbesola for safeguarding education projects by ensuring that indiscipline among students came to its end.
Owoeye, speaking, commended the state’s teaching personnel for what he called their dedication adding that the lawmakers in the state would continue to support the government towards improving the conditions under which they work.