THE Kwara State Ministry of Education has allegedly ordered school principals to disallow in their various schools the annual free holiday lesson classes sponsored by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), for secondary school students across the 16 local councils of the state.

Belgore's Solidarity Team, the group supervising the initiative to encourage the §students in their studies, had written and secured written permission of the principals whose schools were chosen as venues for the lessons.

Following what sources call intense pressure from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), officials from the state Ministry of Education and SUBEB went round some of the schools to stop the lesson. The officials said they were acting on the order of the Commissioner for Education who in turn has directed the principals to stop the extra lessons.

But the state secretary of the PDP, Yemi Afolayan said the accusation was baseless and a cheap political gimmick to blacklist the ruling party.

Afolayan said the ACN should stop playing politics with the future of youths, noting that Kwarans had always excelled in their academic pursuits with or without "Belgore's lectures"

The lesson, in its second year, commenced last Monday, August 6, following the long school break across the country. As at yesterday, the state government had stopped the lesson in St. john Primary School, Maraba (Ilorin East), St. Barnabas Primary School, Sabo Oke (Ilorin East), Adabiya Primary School, Abata Baba Oyo in Ilorn West, and United Community Secondary School Unity Road in IIorin South.

Justifying the suspension, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on Media, Muideen Akorede, yesterday in Ilorin said: "The free holiday lessons purported to have been sponsored by Belgore were stopped by the state government because the promoters failed to follow laid-down procedures.

"Permission should have been sought from the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development rather than from school principals. This is because Government's laudable education reforms are based on ensuring high standards of teaching for pupils and students.

But in a reaction, Belgore's media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, said the decision was "harsh and smirks of cheap politics."

He accused the government of double standard since it did not stop a similar initiative by Senator Bukola Saraki a few months ago when the latter floated extra coaching for students writing the UTME in Ilorin.

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