Abia state shuts down over 100 illegal schools

Over 100 illegal schools have been shut down by the Abia state government across the state. The schools include primary, secondary and nursery schools.

The state government has sealed the premises of the affected schools while it has set up a tribunal to try the operators of the school.

Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Monica Philips, who disclosed this to newsmen at a briefing in Umuahia yesterday, said the illegal schools were used to perpetrate examination malpractices in the state.

She said “despite previous warnings to illegal private schools and advice that their operators upgrade them; they refused hence the decision to close them”.

Philips did not, however, disclose the exact number of schools affected by the closure, but noted that they “were hundreds”.

She said “officials of the ministry were still going round the state to identify other illegal schools”.

The commissioner also said only teachers or examination administrators who undergo training on examination ethics will be allowed to participate in the conduct of examinations in the state.

Philips said only those who participated and passed the examination administration Integrity and technical certificate workshop held recently in the state by the ministry, in conjunction with Exam Ethics Marshal International, would be involved in the conduct of school examinations in the state.

According to her, the measures are part of government’s effort to ensure that the standard of education in Abia remains high.

She said Governor Theodore Orji was in support of the ministry’s effort to ensure that examinations conducted in the state were credible and reliable, adding that the governor wanted the policy of zero tolerance for examination malpractices maintained in the state.