The Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, said that henceforth the state will start Arresting parents of pupils found hawking during school hours.
Governor Fayemi made this known through his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode during a meeting with stakeholders in the education sector on Sunday, January 27, 2019.
According to The Sun, the governor asked parents to take advantage of the free education policy of his administration to reduce the number of out-of-school children.
He said all hands must be on deck to checkmate the declining school enrolment in the state regarded as ‘Fountain of Knowledge’.
Fayemi said that many parents were yet to take full advantage of the free and qualitative education policy of the administration.
He noted that part of the responsibilities of government was to ensure that children and youth who were the future of the nation, were properly groomed through qualitative education that would prepare them for the future.
The governor said the current school enrolment rate of 55 per cent as against 96 per cent recorded in 2014 was 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.
Fayemi also added 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 also disclosed 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.
