Govts Urged To Make Schools’ Press Clubs Compulsory

Stakeholders in the education sector have called on the federal government and the Oyo State government to make Press Club a compulsory extracurricular programme in their post-primary education policies.

The call came at the launching of Press Clubs for public and private secondary schools in Iseyin, Iseyin local government of Oyo State.

At the event which was organised by The Chronicler Newspaper, a community newspaper initiative, in conjunction with the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Iseyin branch, the state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Olusegun Olayiwola, expressed happiness that the launching of Press Clubs in Iseyin schools would booster academic performance of students.

Represented by the local inspector of Education in Iseyin local government, Mr. Mojeed Raji, the commissioner charged teachers to use the programme to play the roles of mentors for the students willing to be members of the club and urged students to use the opportunity to broaden their academic horizon.

“The Press Club launching today has presented yet another opportunity for studs in Iseyin to broaden their academic horizon as it stands to help them develop writing and speaking skills.”

The convener and publisher of The Chronicler Newspaper, Mr Alhazan Abiodun, said the purpose of the convergence of Press Club members across the schools in Iseyin local government and launching of the initiative was to ginger the federal and state governments to make it a policy matter for schools to have and operate the club as a vehicle to enhance self-esteem.

Abiodun said it would also lead to improved reading and writing skills as well as expose students to various subjects outside their academic curriculum.

He called on teachers to see the club as an informal avenue to mentor and shape the young minds for future greatness.

The guest lecturer, Mr Rahaman Abiola, who is the editor-in-chief of LEGIT.ng, spoke on the need for the incorporation of emerging technologies like Artificial intelligence (AI) and others into Press Club, to pave the way for technology skill acquisition and employment opportunities.

He implored the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPPS) and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) to make Press Club in Iseyin schools a success.