Soludo Shuts Down Anambra School Over Alleged Exam Malpractices

Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has closed down Tower Primary School, Oba, following indictment of the proprietor, Kosisochukwu Igwe, and a teacher, Precious Chibuzo, in examination malpractices during the 2023 Transition Placement Examination of the state.

The proprietor, in collusion with the teacher, took a photograph of the question paper during the examination, solved questions and supplied answers to candidates.

The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, announced the closure of the school on behalf of the governor after a meeting, held at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Education, to investigate the allegation of examination malpractice against the proprietor and the teacher.

Chuma-Udeh said: “Report from pupils of Triumphant Cross School Oba, resulted in the investigation, which revealed that the Proprietress of Tower Academy Oba sneaked into the examination hall, connived with the teacher, took a photograph of the question paper, solved questions and supplied answers to candidates.

“Igwe, who admitted committing the offence, pleaded for forgiveness.

“Precious, who had earlier admitted committing the offence has been dismissed from the school.

The Commissioner for Education has directed a re-sit of the examination for all candidates in the centre. The re-sit examination, which is to be personally supervised by the Commissioner, has been fixed for today, while Tower Primary School, Oba, remains closed till further notice.

Meanwhile, a mother, Chika Omesi, is protesting suspension and expulsion of her child, Chiamaka Omesi, from Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umuoji, Anambra State, over a post she made on the school’s Facebook wall.

Omesi, an indigene of Ekwulobia, in Aguata Council of the state, lamented that her 15-year-old daughter, in senior secondary school two, was “unjustly” used for child labour by the school in a construction site for three days as a punishment for some flimsy reasons by the school manager.

She said it was after she drew the attention of the school’s management to her daughter’s plight on the school’s Facebook wall, that her daughter was suspended and, thereafter, expelled from the school.

According to her, the expulsion letter, dated March 8, 2023, was presented to the girl on the assembly ground, adding that it was unjust to punish her for an offence not committed by her.

The aggrieved mother stated this in a teary voice in Onitsha, yesterday, during a press briefing, involving her solicitors, Nkem C. Olisa & Co. Omesi said trouble started after her daughter, alongside 11 other students of the school, came back from a Students for Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship competition, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Ogun State, some months back.

She said: “The school came second in that competition and was, again, selected for another competition in Dubai. A Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Bosslady Organisation, which is based in Abuja, because the school management refused to support the students, sponsored the trips to Ogun State and Dubai.”