students manhandled provost

THE Provost, Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, Osun State, Mr, Emmanuel Awosolu was last week manhandled by aggrieved students of the college, resulting into closing down of the institution by the state government. A source close to the Students’ Union Government of the college has revealed in a chat with OSUN DEFENDER last week. According to the source, the college authority had increased school fees from N14,000 to N25,000 which the students complained that their parents could not afford, in this time of global economic meltdown. The source stated that the students having been pushed to the wall, decided to react, resulting into protest. The provost, who was said to have escaped from the campus in a private vehicle reportedly ran to the state Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola to bail him out from the protesting students but was shocked when he was told point-blank to go back to his duty-post and maintain peace on the campus, and also let the students see reasons for the increase in the school fees. Lecturers and other members of staff on the campus were also said to have also escaped through bush-paths, while those who could not use the bush paths begged the rioting students to allow them to peacefully move out of the campus. The students maintained that it was shameful for Osun State government to have monetized education in the state, accusing the government of deceiving the people by making them to believe that it is operating a free education policy. Another parent, a retired school teacher, Mr. Kehinde Adejulugbe said that the state government also collects school fees from both secondary and primary schools’ students using the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) as part of its deception mechanism. The former school teacher stated that the government should come out openly to denounce its non-existing free education programme and stop playing on the people’s intelligence. He further stated that primary school pupils pay over N1,000 in form of levies, while those secondary schools pay more per term.