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Abia State government has insisted that basic education in public schools remains free of charge and compulsory.
The government warned that anyone caught extorting money from parents before enrolling any pupil will face the law.
The Executive Chairman of Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, Lydia Onuoha, made this disclosure during the enrollment of 29 out-of-school children at Community Primary School, Umuala-Nsulu in Isialangwa North LGA.
The event flag-off of the Education Trust Fund to support the pupils, was organised by a non-governmental organisation, ‘Caritas Nigeria,’ in collaboration with the state Ministries of Education, Women Affairs, ASUBEB, and Justice Development and Peace Commission.
Onuoha, represented by an ASUBEB director, Mrs Nnenna Okenwa, said plans are underway by the Governor Alex Otti’s administration to ensure that all public schools are upgraded to compete favourably with the best private schools in the state.
She said, “Governor Otti is insisting that basic education must be free and compulsory, so if anybody is asking any child to bring money to be able to remain in school, the government will frown at it.
“The state government is doing a lot of reconstruction in our schools, and very soon when you see the public schools in Abia State, you will not recognize them again. The security of schools through fencing and other facilities that are needed for effective teaching and learning will be made available in our schools.”
On his part, the School Management Committee Chairman, Mr Godspower Ahuama, called on the government and other well-to-do individuals to look inward toward offering solutions to the challenges of less privileged children and address the dilapidated state of infrastructure and lack of teachers in the public schools.
