There was a high turnout of students and teachers in Lagos schools on Monday as they resumed for the second term of the 2024/2025 academic session after the Christmas holiday.
Similarly, academic activities have started in many of the schools visited, even as some students were yet to resume, apparently thinking there would not be any serious work to be done yet, being the first day.
Tribune Online monitored the resumption with the officials of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, led by the Commissioner, Mr Jamiu Alli-Balogun.
Interestingly, all the schools visited had no pre-knowledge of the commissioner’s visit, hence they were met the way they were as there was no room for window-dressing preparation.
For this, their principals and teachers, as well as students, expressed surprise to see the commissioner and his team unannounced in their schools on resumption day.
Some of the schools visited include Government Technical College, Agidingbi; Agidingbi Junior and Senior Grammar School; and Agidingbi Primary School, Ikeja, among others. In some of those schools, especially Technical College, it was observed that teachers started with revision work with the students instead of first giving them a “welcome back test” to ginger them for serious studies in the term.
Addressing the teachers, the commissioner urged them to leverage their professionalism and always be punctual, committed, and alive to their responsibilities. He told them that the state government would want them to improve their service delivery and upgrade their skills by opening themselves to new knowledge, especially in the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics, coding, and so forth.
He also charged them to take extra-curricular activities such as essay and debate competitions, sporting events, and so forth with their students more seriously as they are expected to produce total and globally competitive learners. While reaffirming the need for the state government to establish more technical colleges across the state to expand access to technical and vocational studies, the commissioner urged the management of technical colleges to develop their workshops to a standard where they can generate some income for themselves.
He said, “It is not enough you expose your students to only technical skills like repairs of vehicles when you have standard workshops without utilising them to generate some income for the school.”
The commissioner equally advised the teachers to maintain a healthy lifestyle and get registered with the State Health Management Scheme for easy access to quality healthcare services. Alli-Balogun emphasised that the state government is committed to addressing their concerns and also providing a conducive environment for them.
For students, the commissioner urged them to take their studies and other lawful engagements more seriously and ensure they always do their best in their studies. He promised that the state government would continue to provide them with what would help them achieve their purpose in school. He advised them to steer clear of vices such as bullying, gangsterism, drug abuse, and cultism, reminding them that the state government has zero tolerance for them all.
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