No fewer than 50 per cent of the government secondary schools in Osun State do not have night security guards, thereby, making them vulnerable to attacks by hoodlums, OSUN DEFENDER exclusively gathered.
Findings by OSUN DEFENDER revealed that while some of the schools were facing infrastructural challenges, most of the buildings in the schools were old, dilapidated and without perimeter fencing.
Moreso, it was learnt that there had been a shortage of qualified teachers in secondary schools in Osun State, a development which affected the accreditation of schools for the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and National Examination Council, as urban schools were found to be over-concentrated with teachers at the expense of rural schools.
These observations were contained in the 68-page “Report of Osun Education Summit 2023,” prepared by the state government in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, a copy obtained by OSUN DEFENDER yesterday.
The report said, “Also, about 50 per cent of the public secondary schools in Osun State do not have night security guards. This needs to be looked into to guarantee the safety of school properties. The government and other stakeholders like the PTA and alumni bodies of various secondary schools in Osun State are enjoined to make necessary arrangement to employ night guards to secure public secondary schools in the state where there is none.
“There are insufficient learning centers for persons with special needs (only one) secondary school for persons with special needs in the state). There are insufficient teachers in special schools. Parents always dump their children in the schools without visiting them or coming to pick them during mid-term breaks.”
The 2023 Education Summit Committee was saddled with the responsibility of assessing the condition of secondary education in Osun State with a view to repositioning the sector for better performance.
Yusuf Oketola is a trained journalist with over five years of experience in the media industry. He has worked for both print and online medium. He is a thorough-bred professional with an eye of hindsight on issues bothering on social justice, purposeful leadership, and a society where the leaders charge and work for the prosperity of the people.
