Edo Suspends School Resumption over Fuel Price Hike

•APC kicks, says it’s a political decision

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-City

The Edo State Government has announced an indefinite postponement of the resumption of all schools in the state over the hike in fuel prices.

The government announced this in a memo by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Ojo Akin-Longe, in Benin, the state capital, yesterday.

But the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a swift reaction, described the postponement as “expensive political gimmickry” by the state government.

The permanent secretary said the resumption, earlier scheduled for September 9, was postponed until further notice.

“The Edo State Government hereby announces the postponement of the resumption of all public and private schools in Edo State, originally scheduled for Monday, September 9, 2024, until further notice.

“An official statement from the government has directed that schools remain closed due to the tension arising from the recent increase in fuel prices and the challenges faced by parents and guardians.

“The government urges parents, guardians, and caregivers to monitor the activities of their children and wards closely, given the current situation and the rising tension caused by the fuel price hike,” Akin-Longe said.

But the state chapter of the APC has described as “expensive political gimmickry” the decision of the state government to suspend indefinitely the resumption date for schools in the state over the hike in the price of fuel.

The party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Peter Uwadiae-Enosorogbe, said the action of the state government was a political gimmick less expected by the public.

Uwadiae-Enosorogbe said he was surprised that the state government could be sacrificing the educational pursuit of the children for politics.

“You cannot sacrifice the education pursuit of the children for fuel scarcity. It is not today we are having a hike in fuel prices. This cannot derail the educational system.

“Nobody is protesting the hike and no parents have complained that they cannot take their children to school for learning. This is not adding up.

“To every reasonable and rational individual, the government has erred again. It is one of the mistakes of the state government.

“It is not in the interest of the children; it is not in the interest of the parents and it is not in the interest of the educational system,” he said.

Uwadiae-Enosorogbe called for the reversal of the decision, saying that education had suffered a lot under this administration.

According to him, statistics of performance for the recently released results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination ranked Edo 26th as against first and second positions in the past.

“If you now postpone resumption, how are you going to mitigate the time you have made them stay at home deliberately? Meanwhile, the parents are not complaining,” the APC spokesperson said.

He called on the stakeholders to prevail on the government to open the schools, adding that it was illogical for the government to keep at home children whose parents had paid school fees and bought textbooks.

“The children are eager to go back to classes to learn. So, the government should not use political gimmickry to checkmate them.

“Edo government should be talked to, because the action is an aberration; the action is uncalled for; the action is not in the interest of anybody,” he said.