The Anambra State Government has issued a stern warning to all unaccredited private schools operating in the state, mandating them to obtain approval by September or face closure.
This directive was made known by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, during a stakeholders’ meeting with private school proprietors in Awka on Friday.
She expressed concern over the continued operation of unapproved schools despite repeated warnings and an extended grace period.
“There are still many private schools in the state that have yet to be approved. The time given by the governor to shut down such schools has expired,” she stated. “This meeting is to know the reason for the delay in getting approval. But if by beginning of first term, those schools are yet to be approved, we will close them down. That is what the law stipulates and we have given enough grace.”
Chuma-Udeh noted that she had secured the governor’s approval to extend the grace period and had been holding off the task force from enforcing the shutdown, but that proprietors had continued to drag their feet.
“Even though I took permission from the governor to extend the time and I have been holding back the task force, the owners of the schools are still delaying,” she added.
During the meeting, some proprietors raised concerns about impostors posing as government officials and attempting to extort them. In response, the commissioner promised that the ministry would investigate the issue.
It was revealed that the Anambra State Government has identified over 2,000 unaccredited private schools operating across the 21 local government areas of the state.
