REPORT: How PVC Collection Is Affecting Pupils’ Learning At Abuja School

The ongoing collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards is putting the education of pupils of LEA Primary School Kubwa II in jeopardy, findings by THE WHISTLER have shown.

When our correspondents visited the school to monitor the ongoing PVC collection exercise on Friday, it was observed that the convergence point for voters seeking to obtain their PVCs was in front of Primary 6A and Primary 6B at the elementary school.

Entreaties made by one of the class teachers to the rowdy crowd fell on deaf ears, as the endless noise continued to disturb the pupils in their respective classrooms.

One of the class teachers who spoke to this website on the condition of anonymity bemoaned the lack of organization and coordination of the crowd, a situation she said had led to fights and arguments which is a distraction for the pupils.

“They are really disturbing us, since the PVC collection was moved here, teaching the pupils has become very difficult, the children are distracted and the noise is too much. We hope INEC does something about it because we can’t continue like this,” she said.

The school’s assistant headmistress, who refused to give her name, also condemned disorderly exercise, saying that it was negatively impacting the school environment.

“The headmistress is not around and I cannot speak to you officially but the PVC collection is disturbing us, it was initially outside here and was disturbing the whole school before we pushed them to the back near the Primary 6 block,” she said

When THE WHISTLER approached the INEC Staff in charge of the PVC distribution in the centre, she was reluctant to speak to the press.

The INEC official who simply identified herself as Safina eventually said, “there is nothing I can do about it, the people are adults, I have spoken to them to keep the noise down, that children are in their classes, but you can’t stop people from misbehaving if they want to misbehave. I’ve pleaded with them, these people are not meant to be here, but you will still see them.”

Some of the voters who spoke to our correspondents sympathised with the pupils and urged INEC to put measures in place to improve the process.

“They (INEC) are the ones responsible for this rowdiness, the process is not well-coordinated, there are plenty lists flying around and people have been here since morning, so everybody is rushing to get their PVC but INEC is frustrating us. It is unfortunate that it is affecting the pupils, but that’s what you get when you don’t properly coordinate things,” Bukola, a nursing mother told THE WHISTLER.

Chijioke, another voter seeking to get his PVC said, “there are too many polling units assigned here and that’s why there are so many people which is causing the noise. But there is nothing anybody can do about it because a lot of people have resolved that they are not going to leave until they get their cards, so the best thing is to fast-track the process.”