…stresses the urgent need for value reorientation programmes in schools to address the challenge of moral decadence.
Awka, Nigeria — The iNews Times reports that rising cases of moral decadence among school children have prompted the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to introduce a Citizenship Brigade across schools in Anambra State.
The Acting Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Anambra State Directorate, Awka, Barr. Lady Ifeoma Chijioke, decried the growing moral decadence and other social vices among Nigerian youths and school children.
She made this known during a courtesy visit to the Chairman of the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), Dr. Vera Nwadinobi.
According to the NOA boss, pupils and junior secondary school students in the state are increasingly indulging in drug abuse, cultism, examination malpractice, sexual abuse, and other social vices. She described the development as disturbing and linked it to what she termed a warped value system in society.
Barr. Chijioke stressed the urgent need for value reorientation programmes in schools across Anambra State to address the challenge of moral decadence at its roots.
She solicited the Board’s approval for field officers of the Agency to visit schools across the state to sensitise pupils and students on core societal values, civic responsibility, and patriotism.
The Acting Director further disclosed that the Agency is establishing a Citizenship Brigade in schools across the state as part of efforts to combat moral decadence and instil discipline among young learners.
“It acts as an institutional framework to deepen the teaching of core value systems in Nigerian schools by NOA,” she explained.
Responding, the ASUBEB Chairman, Dr. Vera Nwadinobi, appreciated the NOA State Acting Director and her team for the visit and collaboration.
She informed the delegation that the Board has already instituted Integrity Clubs in primary schools across the state as part of efforts to promote discipline and moral standards.
Dr. Nwadinobi further revealed that primary schools in the state currently have Guidance and Counsellors serving as heads of the Integrity Clubs.
“These are measures aimed at inculcating sound moral upbringing and acceptable social norms in the children,” she added.
The planned Citizenship Brigade and existing Integrity Clubs are expected to complement each other in addressing moral decadence and strengthening value-based education in Anambra schools.
