Why Nigerian Government Must Emulate Aregbesola’s Child Education Policy

A leader of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Chief Ayo Akande, has asked the Federal Government to adopt the “child education” policy of the Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, in primary and secondary schools across the country. A statement on Tuesday quoted Akande as saying this in Ogba, Lagos, at the thanksgiving prayer organised to celebrate the re-election of Aregbesola.
Aregbesola of the APC won a re-election on August 9, 2014, defeating the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Iyiola Omisore, and others. Akande said the feeding of pupils in all the public schools in Osun State was a unique education policy meant not only to give the pupils a sense of belonging but to also promote learning and understanding. He said, “The child education policy is a social responsibility and commitment that provides a solid foundation for the total development of the child and growth of the nation.”
“In view of its novelty and contribution to the development of education, the Aregbesola model should be adopted by the Federal Government in all primary and post-primary schools in the country.” The party chieftain said the provision of a good learning environment was not limited to physical structures in public schools. “The mental stability of the pupils to assimilate what they are being taught by their teachers is equally important, hence the feeding policy of the Aregbesola’s administration to give the mental stability to pupils in Osun public schools should be commended and emulated,” he said.
Akande, who said a hungry man was an angry man, noted that it would be difficult for a pupil to assimilate “what the teacher teaches” if such pupil was hungry. He added that the Federal Government needed to adopt the Aregbesola education policy through a legislation that would compel the three tiers of government to implement. He said he was convinced that the child education policy of the Osun governor during his first term contributed immensely to his re-election. “It is a populist policy, which takes care of the less-privileged pupils,” the politician stressed.
OSUN DEFENDER