Govt Plans To Reclaim 180 Mismanaged Schools In Abia

The Abia State government has concluded plans to reclaim about 180 public schools in the state even as it has constituted a special committee to oversee the recovery process.

The head of the committee is the Chief of Staff to the governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba, with the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Eme Uche, as secretary.

Briefing newsmen on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, said, “The committee has as its instrument of reference, the identification and recovery of all the encumbered schools in the state and about 180 schools are involved across the state.

“As the government goes ahead with the reformation of the education sector, the state government will not tolerate the greed of the privileged few who have, over the period, surreptitiously acquired lands that belong to the school for selfish reasons.”

He condemned the misuse of schools handed back to different organisations, stressing that such schools must be used exclusively for educational purposes.

Kanu stressed: “The state government has equally condemned the misuse and misapplication of schools that have been handed over to different organisations.

“The state government insists that such schools must be used exclusively for educational activities. The government advises such organisations who find it difficult to run those schools to return them to the government.”

He said following a full diagnostic assessment of the education sector in the state, about 12,000 teachers in public schools would undergo a capacity-building programme during the summer.

He further stated that work had commenced at the Federal College of Education, Ofeme, in Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state, fully supported by the Abia State government.

The commissioner added that the government would continue with the “Light-Up Abia Initiative”, stating that, “The initiative has continued and gone a notch higher.”

He revealed that the government would soon resuscitate the electrification project in the rural communities, saying that 50 transformers would be distributed to select communities across the state.