Bauchi: Police Arrest Principal For Allowing A Student To Be Disciplined
…Education ministry closes school
BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – For having the courage to permit a class teacher to discipline a disobedient female student, the Divisional Police Officer of Toro Police Division has arrested the Principal of Government Day Secondary School, Rimin Zayam in Toro Local Government Area of the State.
And as a way of averting crisis in the school and community, the Bauchi State Ministry of Education has announced the indefinite closure of the school.
A statement by the Ministry signed by the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde, explained that the measure became expedient as tension was building up in the village following the arrest of the Principal of by the police.
The Commissioner directed that the school will remain closed until the community and the Police assure the Ministry that its teachers and other personnel are safe to discharge their official duties without molestation.
Tilde further said; “The public in general must know that, under the doctrine of duty of care, teachers and parents are allowed by law to take disciplinary measures on their subjects.
“It is their duty of care to punish where necessary for the good upbringing of the child. What form that punishment takes depends on the society. In Nigeria we know that it includes spanking the child, among many others.
“The Ministry of Education thus supports the punishment of any student in forms practiced in this country and will walk every distance to defend its staff in the discharge of their duty.
“Education by definition is not about imparting knowledge only; it is equally about building good character in children and students alike. Any parent—no matter how powerful, who is not civilized enough to know this, can keep his child at home or take him to where he will be rewarded with chocolates for misbehavior,” the Commissioner insists.
The Ministry explained that based on its records, this is the second time such parents are threatening its teachers in the school.
The statement further states; “That a senior police officer will support them to the extent of arresting a principal, in spite of earlier intervention by the Ministry and the State Government, is not only shocking but also gives a wrong signal that such barbaric behaviour is tolerable. It puts the lives of our teachers at risk.
“GDSS Rimin Zayem will remain closed until further notice. No child will be readmitted into the school until his or her parent signs a form consenting that his ward can be reprimanded by teachers whenever desirable.
“This was the promise that the Ministry made to the elders of the community who came last Monday pleading against the possible closure,” the statement explained.
The Ministry of Education further said that in order to avert a repeat of such in other schools in the State, parents of all students will be required to sign an undertaking when schools reopen for the 2021/2022 session in October, 2021.
