The Ekiti Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has said that the state government will henceforth arrest and prosecute parents who allow their school going children to hawk on the streets during school hours.
The governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, today, Sunday in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, asked parents at a meeting with stakeholders in the education sector, to take advantage of the free education policy of his administration to reduce the number of out-of-school children.
Governor Fayemi said that all hands must be on deck to checkmate the declining school enrolment in the state regarded as ‘Fountain of Knowledge.’
The Governor said that many parents are yet to take full advantage of the free and qualitative education policy of the administration.
He said that part of the responsibilities of government is to ensure that children and youth, who are the future of the nation, are properly groomed through qualitative education that would prepare them for the future.
He said that the current school enrolment rate of 55 per cent as against 96 per cent recorded in 2014 is unacceptable to his government, adding that something must be done urgently to reverse the ugly trend.
He said that the state government had started compiling records of retired teachers with a view to determining available vacancies in the teaching service and how to fill them.
Governor Fayemi said that the present administration would soon commence recruitment of competent and qualified teachers who would help to raise the standard of education in the state.
He said that the administration had commenced the process of returning mission schools to their original owners, but stressed that government would continue to monitor them to ensure that the schools do not decline in standards.
It would be recalled that Fayemi had, shortly after his inauguration in October 2018, declared free education from primary to senior secondary schools in the state.
He also abolished all education levies and the education tax introduced by the immediate past administration in the state.
