Corpun file 6031
The Vanguard, Lagos, 18 April 2000
Across the Nation (SouthWest)
Ondo teachers for refresher courses in Britain
By Dayo Johnson
AKURE -- TO BOOST its free education programme, the Ondo State government is to sponsor some teachers to Britain for refreshing courses even as it announced the reintroduction of corporal punishment in public schools.
Governor Adebayo Adefarati said in Akure on Monday that beneficiaries of government gesture would be drawn from principals and classroom teachers in the state.
He however failed to give the number of those to enjoy the overseas training.
Chief Adefarati said that government decided to boost the morale of teacher and at the same time arrest the "disturbing exodus of dedicated teachers".
On the reintroduction of corporal punishment in public schools in the state, he stated that the education sectors [were] fraught with myriad of problems.
These problems according to him range from "indolence, absenteeism, negligence of duty, indiscipline, abscondment, lateness and collection of illegal levies".
Chief Adefarati pointed out that the corporal punishment would assist in tackling such problems in the schools.
Justifying the reintroduction of corporal punishment further, the governor noted that "punishment must be imposed as a corrective measure" but quickly warned against destructive punishment capable of producing hardened criminals.
