The Akwa Ibom State government on Wednesday shut down several substandard schools within Uyo, the state capital.
Commissioner of Education in the state, Professor Ubong Umoh said Governor Umo Eno-led administration’s ARISE Agenda blueprint would not compromise standardised education delivery among private schools in the State.
“The exercise is aimed at standardising educational delivery across the State, ensuring compliance with approved standards, and ridding the State’s educational system of substandard institutions that compromise the future of Akwa Ibom children,” he explained.
Prof. Umoh further expressed strong disapproval to operating schools without the ministry’s Authority To Operate (ATO), noting the growing trend of converting makeshift structures, abandoned buildings, uncompleted houses, town halls and residential apartments into schools.
He described as “deeply troubling” the practice where school proprietors exceeded the scope of their initial licenses for only nursery education to running primary and secondary sections without approval.
In some schools, the commissioner noted multiple classes sharing a single blackboard in cramped spaces while some classrooms were fabricated on septic tanks, room-sized classrooms partitioned into several quadrants with very poor sanitary conditions.
Umoh directed all proprietors of private nursery, primary and secondary schools operating without official approval to immediately regularise their operations through proper documentation and registration with the Ministry of Education.
Accordingly, he strongly advised parents and guardians across the state not to enroll their children or wards in any private school without registration or those licensed by the ministry of education.
He pledged that the ministry carry out statewide enforcement exercise this new school year to identify and seal off all unauthorised schools in the overall interest of quality education and the safety of Akwa Ibom children.
