An education activist, Fela Castro, has urged Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to give legal backing to the recent ban on graduation parties in nursery, primary, and Junior Secondary School III across the state.
The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, had on Wednesday announced the abolition of such ceremonies during a meeting with private school owners from the 18 local government areas.
Ajibefun said the decision was part of efforts to clean up the education system and reposition the sector.
Castro, however, said on Saturday that the reforms could collapse unless backed by law.
“Why should the ban on wasteful nursery and JSS3 graduations become another policy that dies in silence? If the Governor truly wants to end exploitation, he must back these reforms with law,” he said.
He proposed that the governor present an executive bill to the state House of Assembly to make the ban legally binding.
Castro also called for a wider law to regulate private schools in the state. According to him, the proposed law, which he suggested should be called the Ondo State Private Schools (Regulation and Standardization) Act, 2025, would stop illegal schools, block arbitrary levies, curb compulsory purchases, and outlaw fake documents.
“The ban on premature graduations is not an attack on culture but a step to protect parents from financial exploitation and to restore dignity to education,” he added.
