The Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board, ASUBEB, has issued a stern warning to teachers and school heads allegedly sabotaging Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s free and compulsory education policy.
The board said six teachers have been sacked for sabotaging education in the state by charging money for sundry reasons.
Dr Vera Nkiru Nwadinobi, Executive Chairman of ASUBEB, disclosed this at a press briefing in her office on Wednesday.
She listed the defaulting headteachers who were sacked as Mrs Okoye Uju of Awada Primary School, Mrs Nwafor Eunice Nwanneka of Awada Primary School, Mrs Nwakaku Patience Obioma of Awada Primary School, Mrs Aniwetalu Elizabeth Ekene of Awada Primary School, Mrs Odionu Gloria Nkolika of Awada Primary School, and Mrs Muluako Augustine Chinwe, also of Awada Primary School.
She said they have been mandated to refund all monies collected from pupils and also hand over to the next ranking officer, and step down from their positions.
Nwadinobi emphasized that the state government will no longer tolerate such irresponsible conduct and will recommend outright dismissal from service for any headteacher or principal who goes contrary to the free education policy.
She said the government has abolished PTA levies and employed 3,115 teachers to add to the 5,000 teachers recruited in 2022.
The Board enjoined the public to join hands with it and the state government to fight corruption in the education system, tasking parents and guardians to report any school head or teacher who demands unauthorized fees to the appropriate authorities.
Nwadinobi said the level of sabotage in the system was revealed through an investigative team which discovered alarming cases of extortion in some public schools, including Awada Primary School 1-6 in Obosi.
According to her, the investigative team found that headteachers in the affected schools were charging fees for extra lessons, ink fillers for markers, blue pens, and red pens.
Additionally, the headteachers allegedly got the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to agree that every child would pay N200 for the cleaning of the school toilets, despite the state government’s provision of N50,000 monthly running cost and interest to cover such expenses.
Other unauthorized fees discovered by the investigative team include fees for compiled questions and answers for verbal and quantitative subjects, certain novels, lesson fees, send-forth for retiring or transferred teachers, burial levy, Common Entrance Exam fees above the official approved amount of N2,900, exam portal, and passport photos.
