The Kogi State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has started closing down illegal schools that fail to meet up with the provisions in state’s education laws 2020 establishing Private schools.
The Ministry’s task force on the enforcement of Kogi State Education Law 2020 visited selected schools in Lokoja on Tuesday to ensure compliance to set standards as stipulated in the law.
The Hon. Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones (FCIB) who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi on the visit, said the exercise of sanitizing the schools would continue.
He said it is unacceptable for schools to operate from shanties, dilapidated buildings, rooms without ventilation or facilities without adequate classrooms and qualified teachers, where students learn under severely harsh conditions.
He said schools operating illegally should close down or meet up with set standards of the ministry; emphasising that quality would not be compromised for quantity.
“Any illegally operating school should close down or do the needful. This is the task force of the Ministry going round and this exercise will continue until success is achieved. We cannot keep our students to continue to learn under these terrible conditions. It is just unfair and wickedness on the part of the proprietors.”
Pastor Idenyi said schools in the state must awake to modern trends as the administration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello is doing much to take education to a higher pedestral.
Meanwhile, the Abundant Life Academy, along Agbaja Road in Felele has been sealed for failing to accept the letter of close down and the proprietor invited to the Ministry of Education headquarters the following morning for dialogue.
Other schools visited are the Knowledge Academy at Zango Daji and the Heritage of Knowledge Academy, Shettima, where the proprietors were asked to make necessary adjustments.
On the Permanent Secretary’s entourage were the Director of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Matthew Salami, the Director Audit, Pastor Isaiah Abah and the Information Officer in the Ministry, Mrs Modupe Adegboro.
Modupe Adegboro
PRO, MOES&T.