Enugu State Ministry of Education says it has embarked on a campaign tagged “Operation Drag Your Parents to School” to curb juvenile delinquency in schools in the state.

The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uchenna Ezeh, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Friday.

NAN reports that the operation commences at the resumption of schools in the state on Sept. 17.

He spoke against the backdrop of rising incidents of juvenile delinquency being reported to the police in the state.

Ezeh said it was necessary to seek the cooperation of parents or guardians to enforce disciplinary measures in the affected schools.

He said the intention of the ministry was to get parents involved in school activities and encouraged them to know their children or ward’s teachers.

The commissioner said that the schools had been mandated to keep any deviant child outside the classroom and school until the parent or guardian of such a child showed up, with effect from Sept 17.

Ezeh said: “the measure is to seek a closer parents/guardians-cum-teachers relationship in the upbringing of these children especially as it concerned discipline.

“We want the parents to assist the school in ensuring punctuality of these children to school; the ministry wants to end a situation where you see a child coming to school late or roaming the streets aimlessly during school hours.

“Another is that the parents and guardians should cooperate with teachers when their child or ward is disciplined for wrong doing or delinquency.

“The ministry will not tolerate a situation a parent or guardian will come to school to fight or make trouble with a teacher because his or her child or ward is duly disciplined by a teacher.

“And through the partnership, the ministry tends to explore other means the parents or guardians can further help in the improvement of education in our schools both public and private schools,’’.

He said that after the meeting with the school authorities and the teachers, the parents and guardians would have an undertaking with the school on the need for them to play their part in monitoring of the school children.

The commissioner noted that the measure was part of mechanism to return discipline to schools through active involvement of parents or guardians.

NAN gathered that the measure being taken by the ministry would help curb wave of cult activities being reported among pupils in the state.

The police can also arrest a parent or guardian of child indulging in cultism or other acts of delinquency. (NAN)

– Sept. 21, 2018 @ 18:59 GMT |