THE Delta State Government, yesterday, ordered massive clampdown on cultism and cult-related activities in schools across the state.
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, who gave the directive at a news conference in Asaba, said this became necessary following rising cases of cult-related activities in secondary and primary schools in the state, adding that the Ministry of Education and relevant supervisory and regulatory authorities had been directed to ensure proper supervision of all schools to nip such activities in the bud.
“As a government, we have directed that teachers must step up their supervisory roles. Teachers are not only to impact knowledge by way of teaching the pupils or the students whatever is in the curricular, they must also encourage these students to participate in extracurricular activities, like games that will promote camaraderie among them.
“We have directed that the Ministry of Education, particularly the departments responsible for the supervision of schools, be it private or public, should also intensify efforts,” he said.
Aniagwu charged schools to deal decisively with devious behaviours among students to restore law and order, adding that any school where such activities take place risks being closed down by the government.
“If there is any child behaving in a manner that is not expected of him, particularly in the primary and secondary schools, we have emphasised that beyond the need to sensitise, drastic actions need to be taken. Any school found to have wards in cult and nothing is being done about it, government will come down heavily on such schools.
“If you have children in your school and you are looking at them critically, you will understand their behaviour and not knowing that they belong to some groups will amount to negligence.
“If you have children who gang up to beat up teachers, you must look beyond the immediate cause of that attack on teachers to interrogate what must have emboldened them to work as a group to attack a teacher. You must also take actions that will make the parents know that they too have not done well.
“It’s the responsibility of everybody to take this as a matter of urgent state and national importance, because we do know that cultism is pervasive across the length and breadth of this country.
“Any school where such thing is found to be in existence, the authorities in that school will have to answer and it could lead to closing down of such schools. If any school discovers that children under their tutelage are behaving in a manner not expected of children of that age, it behoves on them to know that the responsibility of bringing up those children goes beyond teaching in the classroom to also monitor their behaviour, including how they dress.
“If you have children who gang up at the age of 12 or 13 to attack a teacher, you know that there must be something behind it. Where ordinarily will they summon such courage? So, if a child does that, the school must first take concrete action, including expelling that child and taking up the parents.
“These children would take over from us tomorrow as leaders, so we must not fail in our duty to bring up children of sane minds. What we are suffering today largely stems from failures of parents in the past and so parents of today cannot afford to fail more, because it will lead to the doom of tomorrow.”
He stated that a number of persons, particularly civil societies, had stressed the need for parents to sit up and for society to have a rethink in the management of youths and young ones, lamenting that some elders and parents have not also lived up to their responsibilities, with respect to monitoring the behaviour and attitude of their children and wards.
