REPORT: Low turnout as Kwara schools reopen after two-month break
By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin
Schools across Kwara State recorded low student turnout on Monday, September 21, as pupils and students resumed for the new academic session after a two-month holiday, Western Post observed.
In one of the schools visited, only about 15 pupils were present in a class of 40, with several seats left vacant as academic activities commenced for the new session.
At St. Anthony Junior Secondary School, Ilorin, a JSS 3 student, Toyosi Emmanuel, who said she was expecting her result, told Western Post that she was the only student present in her class.
Similarly, a pupil of Glorious Kiddies School, Ilorin, said attendance was low compared with what was obtainable before the holiday.
The specific reasons for the low turnout could not be immediately established; however, some parents sent their children and wards back to school on the first day of resumption as expected. One of them, Marcel Obikwu, said his children resumed as directed in their report cards.
Obikwu therefore urged other parents to ensure their children and wards return to school promptly, stressing that late resumption could cause them to miss lessons and other activities planned for the new academic session.
Ahead of the resumption, the Kwara State Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development had held a pre-resumption meeting with public school principals from the 16 local government areas to prepare schools for the new session.
At the meeting, presided over by the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, officials discussed security and vigilance, cleanliness, uniformity of standards, discipline, admissions and teachers’ welfare, while principals were urged to renew their commitment to learners. Operatives of the Department of State Services also sensitised the principals on measures to maintain safe school environments, including vigilance, early identification of risks and prompt reporting of suspicious activities.
