Recently a Special Needs school for the Visually Impaired, Mentally Challenged and Hearing impaired, located in the metropolis was burgled and vandalized. This is just one of such incessant nefarious acts carried out by hoodlums under the cover of darkness, who do not see the need for a better society.
Window fittings and other facilities were undone and carted away.
Years gone by, specifically in the 80’s and early 90’s, government schools were treated with respect, everybody owned the facilities. Even primary schools that had no perimeter fencing had boundaries that couldn’t be crossed. But then there were security men stationed at each school, especially secondary schools. In some cases you would have two security men in one school, manning the two gates, because then most schools had two main gates.
However, over the years, the system has eroded and public schools are left at the mercy of miscreants once it is after school hours. Public primary and secondary schools have become a hideout for hoodlums and in some cases shelter for the mentally disturbed.
Today, it is dangerous to go into some public schools after school hours and God help you if it is dark.
It is common knowledge that in The Special Needs School , located at Ukhegie, in the heart of Benin City, known as the old Iwehen area, that a female teacher dare not go very early into school. She has to wait outside the school gate for other people to join her before going in; otherwise the stands the risk of being raped and disposed of her belongings.
It is a known fact that hoodlums take over the school premises immediately school activities are over and teachers and pupils have gone for the day. They destroy ceilings, remove electrical fittings and anything removable. Sometimes they excrete in the classrooms thereby not making it conducive to learning the next day.
Some of the buildings in that school were rehabilitated during the last administration, but right now they are a shadow of themselves. The same thing applies to some other public schools within the city. The state government is presently looking into how these schools can be renovated again.
This is not good. It is an outright and senseless drain on government resources.
The solution to the above unpalatable trend is for everyone in the society to see public schools as their own and take steps to ensure its protection.
Edo State Universal Basic Education Board(SUBEB) is making efforts to commit the communities to work closely with School Based Management Committees, and other volunteers , to collaborate towards bringing this ill to an end.
Government cannot keep spending money on the same thing over and over again, when there are other areas that need attention.
Having renovated the schools during the ‘red roof reform’ in the last administration, one would expect that government resources would now be channeled towards improving the livelihood of the people in addition to impacting other sectors . But these enemies of progress who vandalize public schools slow down the pace of development in the state.
Acting Chairman SUBEB and Special Adviser to the Governor on Basic Education, Dr Joan Oviawe , condemned the act and described it as reprehensible. She warned that government would no longer tolerate the destruction of facilities in public primary schools, noting that perpetrators will be held accountable and prosecuted in the court of law.
She appealed to communities and other stakeholders to work with government to root out vandals . Edo people who reside close to public schools are enjoined to support government stance to stamp out the activities of vandals. They are encouraged to report individuals and groups who vandalize public assets in schools to the nearest police post.
According to the Special Adviser, “the theft of windows at the school for the Visually Impaired is not only morally reprehensible but in is utterly condemnable. We will not make progress with the rampant criminal actions of those who vandalize and burglarize our schools. They are stagnating the progress of society and destroying the future of our children in public schools who deserve the right to learn in a conducive school environment. When these miscreants cannibalize public , the community and all stakeholders of goodwill must rise together in unison to condemn these acts and take action in accordance with government’s on-going efforts to break the vicious cycle of build and destroy”.
This is not a case just for the government alone. In those days there used to be a common adage, “it takes a village to train a child”. This was mainly morally, and in some cases, financially as well.
This same principle should be applied to the present situation facing us as a people. All hands should be on deck. Everyone should be involved in preserving and protecting our public school facilities for the sake of our children and the future generation.
