16 teachers suspended in Ekiti for using school pupils as child labourers on their farms

EKITI State governor Ayo Fayose has suspended 16 teachers at the Elo High School in Ayetoro-Ekiti for using their students as child labourers on their private farms during school hours.

 

Following investigations into the ugly incident, it emerged that teachers were using their pupils as private hands and after the matter was brought to the attention of the state government, it suspended them and ordered a full-scale investigation. Last week, Governor Fayose, received a preliminary report into the matter from a team led by deputy governor Dr Kolapo Olusola that went to the school to investigate the incident.

 

Idowu Adelusi, Governor Fayose's chief press secretary, said the action of the governor followed persistent complaints by concerned parents that their wards were being used as child labourers in private farms during school hours. He added that Governor Fayose then asked that the probe of the activities of teachers in the school be extended to 2012.

 

Some of the affected students, who were brought to the Government House, Ado-Ekiti, said that under the guise of doing practical agriculture, their teachers do take them to their private farms at least twice a week during official hours to work for at least 30 minutes. One of the pupils, Femi Oluyeye, a Junior Secondary School Three student, said that although the school has a farm where students are expected to work once a week, some teachers capitalise on that to take them to their private farms to weed and make heaps.

 

One member of the National Youth Service Corps posted to the school, Ms Giredana Enogha, said when she got to the school last June, the situation was like a farm settlement. She added that students were not encouraged to do any other thing than to go to farm all day.

 

Upon receiving the preliminary report, a visibly angry Governor Fayose ordered that at least 80% of the teachers be transferred from the school. He wondered why some people would want the government’s investment in the education sector to go in vain by sabotaging it overtly or covertly.