Oyo Assembly Member Calls Government To Set Up Task Force To Address Out-Of-School Children

As part of measures to address increasing number of out-of-school children by the Oyo State government and also to ensure that education policy yield positive results, the state House of Assembly has urged the government to set up a special task force.

The state assembly wants the task force to apprehend children hawking or begging on the roads during school hours with focus to enroll them in schools.

The appeal was contained in a motion moved by the lawmaker representing Kajola state constituency, Hon. Akeem Mustapha and seconded by Hon. Olamide Akinajo representing Ibadan North East 2.

In motion titled “Need By Relevant Government MDAs to Address the Menace of out-of-school children in the state”, Hon. Mustapha said that the present administration led by Governor Seyi Makinde has made education free at basic and secondary levels in order to make it accessible to all and sundry.

He, however, disclosed that the increasing rate of out-of-school children in the state is rampant and alarming and calls for serious concern by the government and other relevant stakeholders.

The lawmaker said that the purpose of establishing organizations such as Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC), Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) and various agencies under the Ministries of Education and Women Affairs and Social Inclusion is to assist with the education and upbringing of children.

Hon. Mustapha, therefore, emphasized that parents must contribute their quota by ensuring proper upbringing of their children and making the government plan to reduce the number of out-of-school children realized.

“For a child to be responsible he must have good upbringing from immediate parents, family and the government. The training and upbringing of a child must include moral and sound education. The Rt. Hon. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, if you drive through Sango, Mokola Roundabout, Dugbe, Challenge and other areas in Ibadan metropolis, you will see the proliferation of beggars and hawkers who are children prowling the roads on a daily basis. This is a pointer to the fact that the role the government is playing in the training and upbringing is not yielding a positive outcome as a result of inadequate contributions from the side of the parents, hence the need to address the menace.

Hon. Mustapha in his prayers before the House, urged the state government through the Ministry of Education and State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to set up a special task force that will apprehend children hawking or begging on the roads during school hours for proper enrolment in schools.

The lawmaker also appealed to the government to grant relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies approval to employ the teeming unemployed graduates to serve as inspiration to out-of-school children to go back to school and see education as a prospect.

While passing the resolutions as contained in the motion, Speaker, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, urged the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion to improve on its awareness as regards the importance of family planning to the people at the grassroots.

“The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion should encourage young and procreating couples on the importance of family planning and create awareness on negative effects of giving births to many children on the lean resources of the family, consequently leading to an increase in the number of out-of-school children in our society.”