Oyo Govt. Sanctions Five Teachers Demanding N100 Devt. Levy From Pupils
By Trek Africa Newspaper
The Oyo State Government has sanctioned some Head-teachers for collecting N100 development levy and denying pupils without payment proof access to examination halls during the ongoing public primary schools unified examination in the state.
It disclosed that the affected head teachers were from Methodist Basic School, (School 1-5) in Gan-gansi and that the fee was illegal and not authorized by the government.
Announcing the sanction on Monday, the Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Nureni Adeniran, said that they were found culpable for allegedly collecting illegal fees which were introduced by the School-Based Management Committee of the school.
Adeniran, while frowning at the teachers’ decision to chase affected pupils home knowing that the fee was not authorised by the government, disclosed that the present administration has abolished the collection of development Levies across schools.
“No doubt SBMCs, PTAs can contribute to developing their local schools. But, it must not in any way affect the education of pupils. No child should be discriminated against, in the State Education sector”, Adeniran insisted.
According to him, some parents had reported to the Board that Headteachers of the school denied their children access to examination hall for failure to pay N100 development levy charged by the School’s management and SBMC, through a popular radio station in Ibadan.
Adeniran, who disclosed the government decision during an inspection tour, said the present administration, under Governor Seyi Makinde’s leadership, would not fold its arms and allow saboteurs to ridicule its efforts in mandating free education.
The SUBEB boss added that the ongoing education reforms of the present administration have yielded huge results that must not be sabotaged by any individual.
He further directed that all learners should be allowed to sit for exams without any form of hindrance and urged Teachers across public schools to adhere strictly to the State Government’s policies and directives on Education.
Some of the schools visited include, IMG, Ibuko Ibadan South East LGA; Ratibi Muslim school, Molete, South-West; IMG Basic School, Idi-Iroko, Molete.
Adeniran, who led a team of officials from SUBEB also visited Islamic Mission School 1, Bode, Ibadan; Methodist Basic School 1-5, Gan-gansi and Community Primary School, Awotunde, Ona-ara LGA, and a host of others.
He said the monitoring exercise continues in the course of the week, which will also be extended to other zones of the State, including Ogbomoso, Oyo, Oke-Ogun, and Ibarapa.
