SUSTAINABILITY OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN OYO STATE A NON NEGOTIABLE OBSESSION

 

"When planning for a year, sow corn
When planning for a decade, plant trees
When planning for a life, train and educate men."

The right to education has always been universally recognized by declarations, covenants and conventions , the world has acknowledged the inalienable right of the people to education. This right has materialized into a natural right and to achieve full realization of this right the world has recognized the need for free education which started with the universal declaration of human right. Today over seventy countries  have made some progressive constitutional provision or other statutory enactment on the right to education.

The fast trending deceleration of the Oyo state government to privatise our public schools left us bewildered, the plan to eradicate free education at all level is not only tragic but catastrophic as well, and should be recorded in the black bank of blemish of those who have the effrontery to make such retrogressive pronouncement in Nigeria 21st century. We contend education must be available to every man to the best of his natural ability to enable him be in the fittest possible state to produce to the utmost that he his capable of.

An arrangement under which some are privilege to education while some are not is inhuman, unjust and in the long run anti social. It gives the educated an unfair advantage in economic, political and other social activities over the uneducated fellow citizens, even though the later might have greater inborn talents and latent abilities over the former. It is absurd logic to conclude privatizing our public school because certain groups are bidding, without rethought of the helpless masses who could only train their wards through the public school program.

To the entire progressive minds  throughout Nigeria and all over the world, sustainability of Public Schools Education in Oyo State as become an obsession that in not negotiable. The struggle for the achievement of this goal will continue even if our heads will be used breaking the coconut of the free education crusade.

Education is light, it banishes fear of ignorance. Any government that does not pursue and prosecute free education at all levels policy will be regarded as Nigeria's enemy number one because free education at all levels is the only remedy to the orientational confusion which our country is currently engulfed in.

Nothing must be allowed to plug the wheel of free education at all level in a Democratic Nigeria. We will ensure the anti free education protagonist keep their blaspheme to themselves if they have nothing to offer to Nigeria and Nigerian

Comrade Olugbode Damola
NAPS National PRO
Member FOSSU

THE UNJUSTIFIABLE EXPLOITATION OF KWARAPOLY STUDENTS

"Revolution is the religion of fighters for freedom, who pursue justice and righteous, the religion of those who crave freedom and the school of resisters of exploiters."

The leadership of National Association of Polytechnics Students (NAPS) frown at the N10,000 late registration penalty introduce by the Kwara state polytechnic management on both fresh and returning students with a week ultimatum when portal and registration activities will finally be closed. The students database had earlier been deactivated by the management at exactly a week after the last bash of the school admission list was released and at a time SIWES students were just returning back to school following a late notification warning sent to concerned students.

From whatever angle we wish to decipher the registration penalty, it is a harsh decision coming at a time the nation is battling economic crisis, unions going on strikes due to non payment of members salaries, traders lamenting the drastic drop of Naira to Dollar and governors resisting the payment of N18,000 minimum wage.Financial constrain obviously, is the sole reason most students couldn't meet up registration deadline and any further increase in fees will be tantamount to exploitation of unjustifiable motives.

NAPS expresses displeasure as the school authorities closes her eyes to the current economic status of the state and the country as a whole, such incremental decision is never expected of a state owned institution where state government owe workers salaries. It is to stress the obvious that students directly or indirectly rely on workers salaries to survive on campus, while self sponsored students stake very high to maintain studentship.

We reach out to all concerned students to keep their calm embrace decorum as we engage the polytechnic management on consultation and consolidation ideology of Aluta, we also advice no student subscribe to the registration penalty while negotiations last. With optimism we assure victory at the end of the struggle for we believe the listening attributes of the school and the doggedness of our comrades.

NAPS appeal to the management to reverse the penalty, make refunds to students who have paid and further give extension till January before registration closes. We are bent on this struggle, our stands is never to be compromised and we won't hesitate confrontation on the exhaust of our first 2Cs of Aluta.

Signed
Comr Olugbode Damola (D-mode)
NAPS National PRO

COALESClNG OSUN STATE OWNED TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS: A TECHNOLOGICAL RETROGRESSION

The National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), which is the mother association of all Polytechnics, Monotechnics, Colleges of Education, Colleges of Technology and other allied Institutions awarding National and higher National Diploma, have studied the recent disposition of the Osun state government to technical education and we see it as diametrically opposed to the progressive technological aspiration and dynamic technological emancipation of this country to a technologically advanced country.

It is highly pathetic and sympathetic that at a time the world is celebrating technicalities and embracing advancement of technological innovations, China with her endowment of technology converting over 600 universities to polytechnics as a reforming process to boost the production of technically trained graduates, a government in Nigeria could be proposing the conversion of polytechnics to tutorial centers by merging up four Institutions on the plans to restructure them.

Osun state government has failed woefully it's responsibilities to the educational sector, starved academic workers their pay, cause students months at home to idle away, kill private secondary education with high taxes, turn deaf ears to stakeholders agitation, propose merger of limited tertiary institutions rather providing progressive prescription to the underfunded educational sector in the state.

The impetuous decision of requesting the removal of the four state owned institutions from jamb directory without  considering candidates who already chose the schools as their preferred choice of institution, students currently counting the school calender for their days on campus, and alumni banking on the alma-mata, revealed the gap between the isolated government and her people.

The downsizing shock that will erupt from the merger contrary to the employment opportunities promised by the APC indicates an ideological derail that requires an urgent attention before hope is lost and a no confidence vote is cast on the party. Regrets rocking our hearts to have invested and supported a failed government whose reward of appreciation is months of industrial actions and scraping of our institutions.

Petitions, appeals, press briefing, etc. have all been at one time or the other forwarded by several student leaders to express our displeasure on the action plan but without any appreciable result. The leadership of National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) perceive the development as a threat to technology advancement and an effort to sabotage the struggle of abolishing Hnd /Bsc dichotomy.

There may be times we are powerless to prevent injustice but there should never be a time we fail to protest. The day a society stops to protest, that day marks the beginning of the end of progress in that society. The leadership of NAPS enjoin the executive governor of Osun State to reverse his decision on converting our Institutions to tutorial centers or risk meeting with millions of armless battalion students in the spirit of true activism.


Osun State Polytechnic Iree, College of Technology Esa-Oke, College of Education Ila-Orangun and College of Education Ilesha have all been in existence before the inception of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in office and will continue to remain even after the lapses of his tenure, as any attempt to merge or scrap our schools is a war that will meet the readiness of armless soldiers.

Signed
Comr Olugbode H. Damola (D-mode)
NAPS National PRO