Private School Owners under the aegis of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) have expressed concern over the indefinite closure of all campuses of Chrisland school by the Lagos State Government over a sex scandal involving some minors.
While they supported the swift move by the Lagos state government to investigate the issue, they said shutting down all branches of the school might deny other children their rights to learn as well as deny students in terminal classes, the right to continue preparation for their final examinations.
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Chrisland School has been in the news in the past few days, following the involvement of some of its pupils in a sex scandal.
The Lagos State Government had shut down all branches of the school amid outrage.
In a statement, the National President of NAPPS, Chief Yomi Otubela, said aside the children’s inability to learn, there are also fears over what might become of the children during the period of school closure as their parents are not always available for their upkeep.
The Association therefore recommended that Lagos State Monitoring and Supervisory Committee be introduced among Chrisland Schools Management team pending the conclusion of the investigation.
“We await the outcome of the government investigation on the alleged gross negligence on the part of Chrisland Schools to allow students of such age bracket sleep alone without the presence of a teacher of same sex, as well as the allegations of the school poor communication, the delay for over a month after the incident before calling the attention of the minor’s parents to the exact issue. This will help us take informed decisions,” he said.
While NAPPS condemned the act in its entirety as depicted in the said video involving the minors, it appealed for caution from members of the public; enjoining them to refrain from making unsavoury comments over the issue for the sake of the mental well-being of the minors involved.
The Private School Owners assured that going forward, it will address the issue of moral decadence in schools with a view to minimizing the occurrence of such issues.
“Most studies show that parents are to take the larger portion of the blame for children’s behaviour, hence, parents must take a greater role in shaping their children’s future by inculcating morally acceptable behaviour in them. They must bear in mind that children’s moral development begins at home. The school is to complement their efforts. Unfortunately, parents are shying away from this responsibility rather they prefer to shift this responsibility to the schools.