PRIVATE: HUNDREDS OF SCHOOLS IN BORNO STATE RISK………..
By: Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
The Borno state government says more than three hundred private schools risk closure for illegally operating in the state.
Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Alhaji Lawan Wakilbe stated this while briefing newsmen in Maiduguri.
He explained that the state government in 2022 reviewed the guidelines on the establishment and operations of private schools to check the proliferation of the schools and other unwholesome activities.
The Commissioner said, in an effort to sanitise the sector, the ministry of Education revoked licences of all private school operating in the state and immediately commenced accreditation and reaccreditation of new and existing schools in September 2022.
According to him, out of over six hundred private schools only two hundred and sixty six applied and have been accredited.
“When I checked the record, in a period of almost six months, only 266 schools complied, then in our Exco meeting that took place on the sixth of September, I seeked clarification from the state executive council to commence modality of closure of all the schools that have not complied because they are operating illegally” Wakilbe said.
Alhaji Lawan Wakilbe remarked that all the illegal schools have been given dateline of up to December 2023 to register or be completely closed down.
He also advised parents to enrol their children into schools duely registered with the state government.
“We are going to give them notice to close by December because some of them have already admitted to that. We are going to give the parents option to look for other schools before December, we will examine the possibility of reopening the registration window for a short period of time for final compliance” the Commissioner stressed.
The Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation said the state government has taken deliberate measures to improve the standard of public schools which include building of mega and community schools, employment of over four thousand teachers and provision of free instructional materials to pupils.