BEVERLY HILLS, March 22, (THEWILL) – The Kogi Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Wemi Jones has disclosed that it is now an offence in the state for a child of school age not to be in school or to be found hawking during school hour.
Jones stated this at the weekend in Lokoja, at a Stakeholders’ Sensitisation Meeting on the newly enacted Kogi State Education Law.
According to the commissioner, it has become an offence in the state for a child of school age not to be in school or hawking during school hours as stipulated in Section 9 of the Kogi education law.
‘’If any child is seen hawking or doing anything during school hour, that child shall be apprehended by the Special Marshals that will be put in place till the parent or guardian of such child come forward to give cogent reason why the child is not in school, and we are very serious about this’’.
The commissioner also hinted that the issue of proliferation of private schools had become a source of concern and worry to the state government, stressing that Section 20 provides and stipulates the conditions for such establishment.
He however said that those schools that were already established and did not meet the stipulated conditions would be given ample time to come to the ministry and do the needful.
He added that henceforth every private school that wants to operate in Kogi State must get themselves registered with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS).
The commissioner also disclosed that all illegal schools operating in Kogi would be shut down as stipulated by the education law
‘’We are going to be closing all illegal schools in the state as we have been empowered by Section 20, subsection 3, of the education law.
He further added that the advent of law would ensure that all schools in Kogi including missions schools either private or public, have uniformity in Academic Calendar from the ministry that must be strictly complied with.
He also noted that MOCK examination being a preparatory for WAEC and therefore said that every school operating in Kogi must come under the ministry for MOCK examination as from 2022.
‘’Beginning from 2022, all MOCK examinations in Kogi must come under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’’.
He further warned that the issues of examination malpractice and the so called ‘miracle centres’, would come to an end in Kogi, saying the education law has empowered the ministry to punish perpetrators.
He disclosed that about 68 secondary schools were de-recorgnised and 168 severely warned by WAEC in 2020, in Kogi State as a result of examination malpractice.
‘’It has become a crime for you to harvest other students and put them in your school for examinstion all in the name of miracle centres.
‘’We will checkmate the incident of miracle centres which had led to a great embarrassment to the state. We can no longer allow ourselves to be embarrassed’’, Jones said.
The commissioner further added that disciplines of erring teachers would also be enforced as stipulated in the state education law.
He, therefore advised all the proprietors, principals, head teachers of schools and other relevant stakeholders to study the enacted Kogi education law, and align with it.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi, said Kogi State was created in 1991, but without Education law.
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