Uniforms are hung up, classrooms are locked, and across Ibadan, kids are asking their mums and dads the same heartbreaking question: "are we ever going back to school?"

The Nigeria Union of Teachers in Oyo State called an indefinite strike from June 1st, after the awful abduction of teachers and pupils in Oriire Local Government on May 15th. Three weeks in, public primary and secondary schools are still shut, and parents are properly fed up.

I spoke to a few families quoted in the NAN survey in Ibadan on Wednesday, and the picture is bleak. Children are not just missing lessons, they are hanging around with nothing to do.

Teacher Mrs Yemisi Alao put it bluntly. She said too many parents have switched off, leaving their wards to roam while they go to work or run their businesses.

"Ignorance has led many parents to neglect their children's future. They believe the government should do everything without them lifting a finger," she said.

She is worried the younger ones placed under apprenticeship are not even taking that seriously, and that the strike has landed right when continuous assessment was meant to start. When schools finally reopen, she fears teachers will have to rush through the curriculum just to catch up.

Her plea? Don't just pray for the abducted children to be released, actually plan for the rest. "Engage them meaningfully with books, sports and other productive activities so that their minds will be occupied with positive ideas rather than fraudulent ones."

Parents on the ground are feeling it. Mr Godwin Obinna from Mokola said his kids keep asking if schooling is over for good. "I keep reassuring them that the situation is temporary and things will get better. This whole situation is unfair," he told NAN. He wants the Oyo State government to sort the dispute quickly and put proper security in schools to stop unauthorised access.

In Alaadorin, Yemetu, Mrs Bolajoko Yusuf said the street has turned into a playground. Football, singing, just whiling away the hours. Her neighbourhood has had to organise a community rota because not everyone can stay home. "Parents usually leave instructions for their wards before going to work to play safe and avoid fighting," she said.

Mrs Adeola Aina in Nalende has tried to be proactive, she has enrolled her older ones in a tailoring apprenticeship to keep them busy. But she admits the little ones, aged three to seven, are the worst hit. "They just play around while their parents leave them in the care of neighbours or sometimes alone."

And over in Total Garden, Mrs Tunrayo Adeyemo summed up the helplessness a lot of people feel: "We are not happy that our children are at home when they ought to be in school, but there is nothing we can do about it."

So that's where we are. A security crisis triggered a strike, the strike has shut schools, and now an entire generation of Oyo pupils is stuck in limbo, some hawking on the streets, some learning a trade, most just idle.

Source: cbinewstv

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