The Oyo State Government has urged education secretaries to strive to impart discipline and sound morals within their Local Government Universal Basic Education Authorities for the overall good of the state.
It also stressed the importance of the State’s religious diversity and the need to tolerate one another.
Dr Nureni Adeniran, the Executive Chairman, of Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (Oyo SUBEB), advised at a meeting with education secretaries on Wednesday in Ibadan.
He said their duties were not just about academics but as vehicles for instilling moral values in their subordinates.
The chairman noted that education secretaries must see to it that their teaching and non-teaching staff are disciplined to be able to impart sound morals and discipline to schoolchildren.
Adeniran also said Oyo State, through the board, will not tolerate religious intolerance, adding that no religious bigotry will be tolerated in the state public schools.
He said that every religion and law protects the life of every citizen, adding that no pupil must be coerced into a belief system he or she finds unpersuasive.
“Each Education Secretary must be self-disciplined, otherwise they will lose the right to discipline others, as immediate role models to others”.
Adeniran commented on the scarcity of teachers in public schools and suggested a possible redistribution of teachers across the state.
He noted an urgent need to correct the lopsidedness of teachers’ deployment in Oyo State, adding that an intra-local Government distribution will aid education in the state.
Therefore, he charged each education secretary to compile lists of teachers and enrollment in each school under their supervision.
The OYO SUBEB boss warned education secretaries and teachers against extortion or imposition of unauthorised levies on students, noting that offenders would be sanctioned.
Adeniran said that the Oyo State Government would not condone any corrupt practices by any Education Secretary or the headteacher.
He stated that the Oyo State Government had completed hundreds of school projects across all local governments, adding that it will soon embark on the completion of some abandoned projects.
He said most of the projects were abandoned by contractors hired by the state administration in the past.
