UYO – The Akwa Ibom State Government says it will close down 1,200 private schools operating illegally in the State, this month.
“The closure will be disastrous to pupils in the affected schools, if the State government goes on with it”, Mr. Samuel Ufuo, former chairman of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Education said.
Atleast 11,400 teachers will lose their jobs if the State government goes on with the closure. Each of the listed school employs at least 10 teachers.
Last month the Ministry of Education released a list of 1,140 private schools it claimed were operating illegally.
This week, the Commissioner for Information in the State, Mr. Charles Udoh, said 1,200 schools will be shutdown.
The State government in 2017/2018 listed about a thousand private schools it said it were to be close down, for not meeting its standard.
It was learnt that only a few of the delisted schools were shutdown at the end of the exercise, even though temporarily.
“Heads of Local Education Authority in the respective local government areas later gave the schools approval to re-open for business. In the end, no school was closed”, our source who knew about the exercise said.
Our correspondent gathered that Heads of Local Education Authority (LEA) in the respective local government areas were encouraging the proliferation of ‘illegal schools’.
Sources in some local education authority alleged that heads of LEAs were collecting bribes from proprietors of those ‘illegal’ schools.
The sources said there were schools with very poor facilities and personnel which the LEAs have not mentioned to the Ministry of Education, because of the relationship they have with their owners.
Mr. Samuel Ufuo, who was Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Education in 2018 when government first threatened to close some schools, said schools listed for closure then did not have suitable environment for learning and teachers.
“The schools that were marked, ‘illegal’ did not have structures befitting of such institutions. They did not have qualified teachers. Most of the teahers did not study education. In some nursery schools, those who were teaching did not even have WAEC.”
Ufuo who represented Mbo State constituency in the 6th assembly, however said the closure of 1,140 schools will be disastrous to the education sector in the State.
“The impact of that decision will be disastrous, in the sense that there are no alternatives jobs for the teachers who will be disengaged.”
“The future of the pupils will be affected, because fees in private schools that survive the clampdown.”
The former lawmaker called on the government to set the standard of infrastructure, personnel and attitude to work in all public schools.
“What makes a school legal and what makes it illegal should be clearly spelt out by the government. There must be a standard for it, and government must set that standard.”
Ufuo posited that if public schools are of better standard compared to private schools, parents will withdraw their children from private schools and the number of such schools will reduce effortlessly.
The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Nse Essien, has said his Ministry will review the condition for issuance of authority to operate private schools and will set up a committee to review schools’ curriculum to ensure compliance with acceptable standards.
Essien at the meeting with National Association of Proprietors of Private School urged all private school operators to forward their curriculum to the Ministry for standardization, saying that the Ministry of Education will reappraise approved schools to ensure maintenance of standard.
The Commissioner disclosed that the State government will commence the closure of illegal and unapproved schools this week.
