Ogun goes tough on cultism, alcohol consumption in primary, secondary schools

The Ogun State government has declared zero tolerance for crimes, including cultism, consumption of alcohol, hard drugs, truancy, among others by pupils/students in primary and secondary schools across the state.

At a press conference, Tuesday, ahead of the resumption of schools next week, Abayomi Arigbabu, the state commissioner for education, science and technology, said the government would name and shame students caught in these illegal acts by publishing their names at school, zonal and state levels.

The move by the state government became necessary following a series of crimes widely reported in public schools in the three senatorial districts of the state.

There have been reported cases of attack on teachers by students, while some pupils have also been found with hard drugs in schools. Some pupils were also recently caught engaging in bloody fights which led to the abrupt closure of some schools in the third term of 2021.

Read also: Random kidnapping, cultism biggest security challenges confronting Ogun – Abiodun

Arigbabu attributed the rising juvenile delinquencies in elementary and post-elementary education in the state to poor parenting and environmental factors, including social media and peer group pressure.

The commissioner, who expressed the readiness of the government to meet stakeholders in the education sector towards resolving the crisis, stated that there would be a series of meetings with security agencies, principals and heads of schools, parents and teachers, and others to tackle the vices.

“We are taking serious steps against crimes and criminality in both public and private schools. Private school owners should co-operate with us in this fight. We are the one that gives licences to the private schools and if any of them flouts our directives, we can easily have their licences withdrawn.”

Meanwhile, the commissioner has said that the state has completed works on effective e-learning, digitised scheme of work, digitised examinations and exams results, known as e-dossier in an effort to rejig and update the national education curriculum.

He said Governor Dapo Abiodun would soon launch the state e-learning platform that encompasses all the methods of learning and psycho-motor activities of pupils.