The Allied Peopleโs Movement (APM), Lagos State, warmly welcomes all pupils, students, teachers, lecturers, parents and other stakeholders back to a new academic session.
As our children return to school, we call on parents and guardians to see education as a shared responsibility that goes beyond paying school fees and providing school materials. Parents must take an active interest in the academic performance, behaviour, friendships, talents and extracurricular activities of their children.
We urge parents to regularly monitor their childrenโs progress in school, maintain meaningful communication with their teachers, encourage them to participate in productive activities and provide the emotional and moral support they need to become responsible and productive members of society.
At the same time, APM calls on the Lagos State Government to urgently address the growing number of underage children roaming the streets and those exposed to the harsh conditions of traffic while hawking and begging under the scorching sun.
No child should have to choose between education and survival.
The government must take concrete steps to identify these children, remove them from dangerous street environments, reunite them with their families where appropriate, and provide them with access to quality and affordable education. Where poverty is the reason children are pushed into street trading, government intervention must go beyond simply taking the children off the streets. The families must also be supported so that the children do not return to the streets.
The APM believes that eradicating out-of-school children requires a comprehensive and sustainable approach involving education, mentoring, scholarships, skills development and economic empowerment for vulnerable families.
Under the leadership and vision of our Lagos State Governorship Candidate, Prince Laja Adeoye, education occupies a central position in our agenda for a better Lagos.
An enlightened society is a breeding ground for economic prosperity. We cannot build a prosperous, secure and competitive Lagos while thousands of children remain excluded from quality education.
The APM administration will work towards substantially reducing and ultimately eradicating the problem of out-of-school children through mentoring programmes, scholarships, educational support and employment opportunities for parents, ensuring that assistance to children is sustainable and does not end when a scholarship expires.
A NEW EDUCATIONAL DIRECTION FOR LAGOS
The APM Governorship Candidate, Prince Laja Adeoye, is committed to transforming education into one of the strongest foundations of Lagosโs development.
An APM-led government will:
- Adequately fund and equip public schools across Lagos State.
- Increase government subventions to state-owned pre-primary, primary, post-primary and tertiary institutions, including Lagos State University (LASU) and other state-owned institutions.
- Improve learning environments by providing the necessary infrastructure, laboratories, libraries, digital facilities and teaching materials.
- Train, retrain and motivate teachers and lecturers to meet the demands of modern education.
- Overhaul the curriculum to ensure that Lagos students are equipped with relevant knowledge and skills required in the 21st-century global economy.
- Strengthen technical, vocational, digital and entrepreneurial education so that young people are prepared not only to seek employment but also to create opportunities.
- Establish stronger partnerships between educational institutions, industries and employers to make education more relevant to the realities of the modern economy.
- Set ambitious educational performance targets with the objective of making Lagos a leading education hub in West Africa.
Our children must not become local champions in a global world. A Lagos child should be able to compete confidently with a child from London, New York, Dubai, Singapore, Johannesburg or any other part of the world.
Education must therefore move beyond examination certificates. Our schools must produce young people who can think critically, innovate, communicate effectively, use technology, solve problems and contribute meaningfully to society.
As we welcome our children back to school, APM calls on every parent, teacher, school administrator and government official to recognise that the future of Lagos is sitting in our classrooms today.
We owe these children more than promises. We owe them quality education, opportunity, protection and a future.
APM is committed to building a Lagos where no child is left behind and where education becomes a genuine pathway to dignity, prosperity and responsible citizenship.
