Crises in schools: Operation erect fence in Oyo public schools now imperative
Femi OGUNLANA
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The upheaval in Areago High School Ogbomoso, whose dust is yet to settle has made it imperative that the Oyo state government, the proprietor of public secondary and primary schools in the state, embark on construction of perimeter fence in schools to prevent occurrence of such ugly incidents in other schools.
The 1982-founded Areago High School was caught in breach of order and peace partly because it “dared” to erect perimeter fence to safeguard its land from trespassers, protect the sanctity of the school against intruders and build an environment highly conducive for teaching and learning, which is the core objective of schools.
Schools bereft of perimeter fence face a lot of challenges such as vulnerability, underscored by neighbours especially carving different pathways within the school premises to reach their destinations. Schools as crucible of learning means nothing to them; motorcyclists, motorists drive dangerously through, even during school hours, furiously honking, mindless of ongoing classes, so reckless could some of them be that there have been cases of students being knocked down within school premises. The humming sound of vehicles and motorcycles also pierce class serenity and is a cause of distraction. “So terrible is the situation that you still find many perpetrators viewing their action as normal; they are unremorseful, and are often militant about it when asked to be cautious,” a teacher sums up the situation.
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According to information in the media that’s the root cause of the Areago unrest. Three women on commercial motorcycle refused to abide by the instruction to take another route other than the one through the school. They reportedly started to hurl abuses at the teachers and students, which degenerated into clashes between the students and the women joined by neighbours who previously were seething with rage over the move to fence the school, a project embarked upon by the school’s PTA. The resultant fracas has led to the closure of the school by the government.
Another grave challenge posed by absence of perimeter fence in schools is the massive encroachments on schools’ lands. Encroachers, trespassers feast on schools lands carving out portions for themselves for residential buildings, shops, workshops and so on, with schools managements often helpless. I even heard of a school in Ogbomoso where a chief claiming the school ‘s land was given by his forebears staked out a portion to build his palace. He had indeed begun pre-construction activities before the school management reported to the immediate past Soun, Oba Oladunni Oyewumi, who stopped him (who is now also late), in his track. No-fence-scenario in public schools is a malaise government must take as crucial and address to protect schools’ lands from desperate trespassers.
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Furthermore, the situation is a root cause of students’ waywardness that has now become rampant. When a school is without perimeter fence, it becomes easier for students to sneak in and out. The ones among them with sinister tendencies thus slip into truancy, causing trouble, indulging in narcotics, alcohol, sexual orgies, gambling, cultism and all manners of vices. They are the ones who often foment interschool clashes.
In addition, the vulnerability of schools has been found to expose students to danger. We have heard cases of area boys jumping into classrooms from outside to drag out students who “offended” them to subject them to various forms of maltreatment. There have been cases of rape of female students outside the school.
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In some schools, porosity has crumbled sale of healthy meals by environmental health officers-certified food vendors as students easily find ways to circumvent the school’s feeble security to go out to patronize un-approved food sellers who entice them with ‘quantity” albeit predisposing them to various health hazard.
That is not all, lack of fence which enhances vulnerability of schools is similarly a contributory factor to schools being converted for other purposes (in the evening and night) such as their being turned into illicit sex arena by unscrupulous elements, into smoking and drinking centres, places for doing hard drugs, meeting places for small-time Yahoo boys and so on – activities inimical and diametrically contrary to the purposes for which schools are established. Schools’ conversion into zones for illicit activities is accentuated by lack of guards in most schools.
To return sanity and sanctity to our schools, government needs to take the bull by the horns and flag off putting up of fences in our schools. The cost of lack of fence is enormous, unquantifiable, it well surpasses the cost of constructing fences in these schools.
That’s the step any proactive government will embark upon. Because many other schools daily face similar challenges as that of Areago High School, and realistically tackling the root cause as in fence construction will be the right step in the right direction and will be seen as promoting education.
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The Oyo state government’s project of cutting back the number of out-of-school-children will greatly receive a boost if Operation-Fencing-of-Public-Schools comes underway.
