The national president of Igbo Elerin Grammar School Old Students’ Association (IEGSOSA), Reverend Lasun Makinde, has implored government at all levels to support the teaching personnel in public schools to enforce discipline and inculcate exemplary virtues in students.
He said this development will go a long way in checkmating the growing level of moral decadence rampant among the youth in the country.
Speaking at a reunion programme organised by IEGSOSA for its members in the premises of the school, Makinde carpeted some parents of public schools students who indulge in expressing reservations over the enforcement of discipline on students.
Describing such attitude as capable of promoting vices among the younger generation, IEGSOSA president, who is a retired principal and permanent secretary stated: “The government should support teachers to enforce discipline among the students. The principals themselves know what to do in this regard.”
According to Makinde, “the fears that parents will come to embarrass them or at times engage in scuffles with the teachers for reprimanding their children have been a major challenge to the efforts of the teachers in enforcing discipline and inculcating moral values in students.
“If the government empowers the teachers and principals to discipline erring students, through little punishments, it would assist in restoring lost values among our students. However, I want to clarify that I am not canvassing for capital punishment.”
Earlier in his remark, the chairman of the planning committee for the IEGSOSA 2022 reunion, Engineer Sunday Gbenjo, lamented the condition of facilities in the school, noting that the development prompted the organisation of the programme to address the neglect and abandonment of their alma mater.
He stated: “Today, the story has changed due to the wanton neglect of our alma mater, established in 1957. The roof of one of the main technical halls had been blown off, while most of the classrooms would be best described as a poultry farm, some with ramshackle windows, ceilings and doors.”
“We have resolved that all IEGSOSA members must come together with one agenda of fixing the school. Each set should pick a project from the list of needs for implementation. The reality on ground is that the government cannot do more than what it is presently doing in the aspect of paying staff salaries and occasionally dishing out paltry grant to run the school.”
