‘Investment in Education a Waste without Discipline in Schools’

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

A former Special Adviser for Information and Strategy under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Semiu Okanlawon has stated that gross indiscipline in schools is capable of turning states’ huge investments in education into colossal waste.

This he said is why it is imperative for states to put in place structures to enforce discipline in schools.

Okanlawon, who was the guest lecturer at the maiden Osun Edu Marshals end-of-session evaluation and awards ceremony in Osogbo, said it is regrettable that over the decades, the decay in the sector was not just about the physical infrastructure or decline in the quality of the teaching personnel.

Edu Marshal, an organisation created in 2017 by the Aregbesola administration came into being as a result of the disturbing cases of moral degeneration noticed in public schools.

The former aide said indiscipline, ranging from poor attitude towards learning to outright display of violence in schools among students and against teachers became rife.

“The results of these huge investments have come to manifest in the phenomenal rise in the performance of Osun students in public examinations.

“While the Aregbesola administration inherited an annual average number of successful candidates with at least five credit passes in WASSCE of 11.6 per cent during the four-year period prior to the first term, the state under Aregbesola’s first term witnessed a sustained improvement with an annual average number of successful candidates with at least five credit passes (including Mathematics and English Language) in WASSCE of 21 per cent indicating 81 per cent improvement over a period of four years,” he said.

According to him, no matter the investments in education, no meaningful improvement would be recorded if the menace is not curbed.

While commending the former administration for establishing Edu Marshals, Okanlawon said the organisation has a duty to continue to enforce discipline to help the Gboyega Oyetola-led administration to sustain the legacies left by Aregbesola in the education sector.

In his remarks, the state governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebamiji, applauded the marshals for keeping hopes alive, adding that the government would do its best to protect education.

The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Timothy Owoeye commended the state’s teaching personnel for their dedication, adding that the state lawmakers would continue to support the government towards improving the condition under which they work.

On his part the former Spaeker, Dr. Najeem Salam thanked Aregbesola for safeguarding education projects by curbing indiscipline among students.