Akwa Ibom local council bans use of pupils for manual labour in schools

The Ibiono Ibom Local Government Council, Akwa Ibom State, has warned heads of its 64 public primary schools against using pupils for manual labour, including cutting grass and working on private farms, as schools reopen for a new academic term.

The Chairman of the council, Asuakak Umoh, issued the warning at a meeting with the headteachers of the 64 public primary schools in the council area on 23 July before the close of the term. In the meeting, he reiterated his administration’s commitment to protecting pupils’ learning time and improving the conditions under which children receive education.

According to its press unit, the council will send letters to the headteachers next week regarding the chairman’s directive.

Mr Umoh said the council had taken deliberate steps to end the practice by acquiring 64 brush cutters and engaging 64 personnel, with each worker assigned to maintain the premises of a public primary school.

The arrangement, he explained, was specifically designed to remove the need for pupils to cut grass or perform other menial tasks that could interfere with their education.

“The era of making our young ones abandon what took them to school to work all day for any school head or teacher is over,” the chairman said.

He directed school heads, teachers and other persons in authority to stop sending pupils to cut grass during or after school hours.

He also prohibited school authorities from directing pupils to work on private farms or undertake other personal tasks for teachers or school heads.

Warning to school heads, other officials

Mr Umoh warned that any school head or other official found violating the directive would face disciplinary action.

The chairman extended the warning to the council’s grass-cutting personnel, stressing that the workers had been employed and equipped for a specific responsibility.

He said operators who failed to carry out their assigned duties would equally be sanctioned, noting that the council had provided both the equipment and personnel to ensure that school compounds remained clean without placing the burden on pupils.

“The era of making our young ones abandon what took them to school to work all day for any school head or teacher is over,” Mr Umoh said.

The chairman said the initiative was part of his administration’s broader effort to domesticate the education component of Governor Umo Eno’s ARISE Agenda at the grassroots.

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He said the objective was to ensure that children in Ibiono Ibom had the basic conditions required to learn, grow and compete favourably with their peers elsewhere.

According to him, the policy goes beyond keeping school compounds free of overgrown grass.

“It is about giving our children the opportunity to remain focused on why they are in school in the first place,” he said.

Mr Umoh said his administration is poised to raise a generation of well-educated and responsible young people who would eventually occupy important positions and contribute meaningfully to the development of Ibiono Ibom.

He described a conducive learning environment as a necessary foundation for achieving that goal.