By Tell Balogun & Favour Akinola

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The Ondo State Government has urged principals and head teachers of public schools across the state to adhere strictly to the admission procedure approved by the state government.

The Hope reported that some school principals were making demands from parents and students outside collectibles approved by the Ministry of Education.

The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Olufemi Agagu, stated this while inspecting schools resumption for the 2023-2024 academic session in the state.

Agagu, who said the government was conscious of the prevailing economic situation in the country occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy, urged school heads not to put additional burden on parents by imposing levies that the government did not approve.

The Commissioner also said the state government has not increased tuition for Unity Secondary Schools in the state.

He stressed that the government of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, would not burden parents and guardians by arbitrarily increasing school fees, considering the present economic situation in the country.

The Commissioner emphasised that school fees in all its Unity Secondary Schools across the state were not increased, urging interested pupils to take advantage of the ongoing admission window to enrol in any of the schools.

He said the government would continue to work harder to provide qualitative and affordable education to the people of the state.

He urged school authorities across the state to always be security conscious by monitoring strange movements within and around their school premises while striving to secure their schools’ properties.

While encouraging parents and guardians to monitor the activities of their children and wards, especially the company they keep, the Commissioner also warned against truancy, absenteeism, bullying and other unwholesome practices by students.

He assured that the State Government would continue to invest in the education sector to ensure that every child of school age in the state has unrestricted access to quality and affordable education where they live, work, or play. Hope went around schools in the state to monitor schools’ resumption for the new academic session.

Our observations showed that even though resumption for the new session comes with many activities, such as cleaning and arranging classrooms, the students were excited to end the seven-week-long vacation and return to school.