A group under the aegis of the Edo State Civil Society Organisation, EDOCSO, has criticised the state government for handing over four public schools to the Catholic Mission in the state.
Salient Times report that the coordinator of the group, Leftist Agho Omobude, said the governor’s unilateral action negates the principle of democracy, which is anchored on popular participation.
Omobude lamented that the governor’s decision was to the detriment of hundreds of thousands of voters whose children and wards attend the affected public institutions.
According to him, Governor Okpebholo did not consider the ordinary people and their children, nor did he understand the interests of the Edo people.
“Those schools were not built with church money but by the communities, which donated land and supported the building of the school infrastructure because they wanted schools in their communities, so those schools should be public continuously.
“Once the missionary takes over the schools, they become private institutions and the children of the poor, the downtrodden attending those schools will lose the right to quality education as they won’t be able to afford the fees.
“This would affect the children of the less privileged attending those schools. It is pathetic that we have a government that is thinking this way,” he said.
Governor Monday Okpebholo had, last week, handed over St Maria Goretti Girls’ Grammar School, Benin City; Annunciation Catholic College, Irua; St Angela’s Girls’ Grammar School, Uzairue; and Obaseki Primary School (formerly St Patrick’s Primary School), Airport Road, to the Catholic Mission.
The governor, in a statement by the Commissioner for Education, Paddy Iyamu, said the decision was in recognition of the Catholic Mission’s contributions to the growth and advancement of education in the state.
“All students currently enrolled in these schools must be retained without discrimination.
“These students should be afforded quality education in line with modern standards, coupled with the moral values and discipline for which the Catholic Mission is renowned,” the statement added.
