–Parents, Guardians Accuse Govt, Media Of Complicity
Parents and guardians of secondary and primary students in Imo State have decried the nosedive in academic, mental, moral and sporting standard of their children and wards occasioned by the unprecedented eruption of schools at every nook and cranny of the State.
The parents accused both the government and the media in the State for not only failing in carrying routine checks on schools in the state but also of aiding and abetting the ugly situation.
Some of the parents who were randomly interviewed by pressmen, in their different submissions, averred that the situation is getting from bad to worse and will want the government to declare state of emergency on that sector to be able to sieve out the chaff from the grains.
They revealed that most of the schools in Imo State are established for profit maximization with the help of the government who are only interested in the fees and tips from the school proprietors while they turned blind eyes to the unavailability of all the mandatory features for standard school including quality teachers and teaching facilities, conducive learning environment, recreational facilities and sanitary facilities to mention but a few.
They took a swipe on the media for not living up to their responsibility of being the watchdog of the society through timely and adequate information dissemination alluding their ineptitude to complacency.
While stating with dismay the low rating of imo state in education which was different from the past records they called for synergy between government and the press to ensure the state returns to her proud position as the number one in education in the country.
The parents who frowned upon the exorbitant fees paid especially in private schools without corresponding results maintained that standard must not compromised while establishing schools to avoid churning out students that can not measure up with their counterparts in other states.
Chiamaka Amadi a student in one of the notable private secondary schools believed that all works without play make jack a dull boy decried the non available of sporting or recreational facilities in the school that has made her drop her zeal for sporting activities. She called on the government to bring back sports so that students can indulge in sports competitions.