Secondary School Students in Osun State Protest Against......

Secondary school students in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Tuesday staged a protest against the government policy that any student who cannot produce their parents’ tax clearance should not be allowed in school. Students of Osogbo High School trooped out in hundreds and trekked from their school, through Ogo Oluwa area to the Governor’s Office singing anti-government songs. Armed with leaves, the students were joined on the roads to the Governor’s Office by their colleagues in other schools. The Head Boy of Osogbo High School 1, Taiwo Oyewole, said the students were protesting because most of their parents who were government workers had not been paid for months, adding that it was impossible for them (parents) to pay N4,500 for tax clearance.He said there was a directive from the state government that any student who could not produce the clearance should not be allowed in school. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Lawrence Oyeniran, when contacted said the directive was given by a body at the Internal Revenue. Oyeniran said, ” Internal revenue gave the directive, but it is a collective decision. We will talk to them to douse the tension.”