Proprietors accuse Ondo of imposition of fee

Proprietors, principals, and teachers of private secondary schools have rejected the money alleged imposed on them by the state government to attend a seminar.

It was gathered that the state Ministry of Education, through a circular, had  allegedly directed that every secondary school both public and private in the state should present a principal and two teachers and pay a sum of N4,000 on each of them  to participate in the seminar, scheduled to come up next week.

The proposed workshop tagged, ‘Seminar on tackling insecurity in public and private schools in Ondo State,’ was said to be organised by the Ondo State Public Service Training Institute as part of the bid to tackle insecurity in the state .

The concerned people described the alleged compulsory ‘seminar fee’ as strange and unacceptable in the light of various financial challenges facing the school business in the recent time .

Their reaction was contained in a letter written to the Head of Service, signed by the state chairman of Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Mr Balogun Tajudeen. The letter was titled, ‘Re- proposed seminar on tackling insecurity in public and private schools in Ondo state.’

The union urged the state government to reverse its directive and make the seminar zero cost in the interest of all stakeholders.

The letter read in part, “The insecurity that tutors are battling with in schools goes beyond that of kidnappers and herdsmen, there are lots of security challenges and harassments being faced by tutors from parents of some erring students.”

In a reaction, the state Head of Service, Mr John Adeyemo, who confirmed the directive on the seminar money payment said the seminar was not meant to enrich some people, saying efforts were ongoing to ensuring that schools reduce the number of participants.

SOURCE: PUNCH