Secondary school pupils in Osogbo, Osun State, on Thursday hit the streets to protest against the state government’s demand for their parents’ tax receipt, Daily Independent reports.
The Rauf Aregbesola-led administration had demanded the tax receipts of their parents before they could partake in the junior examinations of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in the state.
The students were prevented by their teachers from partaking in the examination. Subsequently, more than half of them decided to stage a demonstration at the State Secretariat over the matter.
The aggrieved pupils marched in large numbers to the popular Olaiya junction in the state capital before proceeding to the State Secretariat in Abere.
The pupils, who chanted anti-government songs, claimed that they were ejected from school for their inability to present their parents’ tax clearance, saying they could only comply when the government pays workers their wages.
The students called on the state government to pay the salary arrears of their teachers and parents without further delay so that everything would go back to normal.
Addressing the students, Lawrence Oyeniran, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, stated that the tax scheme was introduced so that the parents of the students could pay their taxes.
He urged the students to go back to their classrooms with the assurance that the matter would be resolved soon.
