The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has attributed the success attained by students and pupils in the education sector to the reforms introduced by his administration.
Just as he tasked parents and guardians to do more in the upbringing of their children and wards, to enable them to be useful to society in this 21st century.
Prince Abiodun stated this in Abeokuta at a stakeholders’ meeting with parents in the Egba region of the State, noting that today’s children are quite different from those of yesteryears, hence the need to adopt modern parenting methods suited for them.
These reforms, the Governor informed include, the introduction of Learners Identification Number (LIN) that captures the academic performance of students in both public and private schools, payment of running costs to schools, the appointment of Principal/Headmaster General, renovation of schools, the computerisation of schools recorded, among others.
According to the Governor, “You can see that our children of today are different from the ones we had in the past. For instance, you can send your child out of the house if he or she commits an offence and would come back to beg you, but if you send them out of the house these days, he or she will not come back, so we need new ways to handle them.
” It is imperative to teach our children and wards how to behave in this 21st century and that is why we call this meeting. It is an opportunity for robust engagement on how to guide our children”.
Prince Abiodun appealed to the parents to guide and rein on their children not to engage in hooliganism or be used as thugs in the forthcoming elections, but to obtain their Permanent Voters’ Cards to vote in the elections.
In his remarks, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, said the government in the last three and a half years had carried out several reforms aimed at taking education to a greater height in the State.
In her contribution, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo, said the State government had approved the takeover of 28 community schools with adequate teaching and non-teaching staff, adding that schools have been receiving running costs.
Soyombo said the meeting which was the first of its kind in the State was called to deliberate on how to handle today’s children with their peculiarities, to enable them to live a successful life in the future.
