By Douglas Okoro
Abakaliki – The Commissioner for Education in Ebonyi, Prof. John Eke, has warned that the government would clamp down on schools in the state being operated without the approval of the government.
He gave the warning on Wednesday in Abakaliki in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said that it was illegal to operate school without obtaining necessary approval from the government.
He said that the Ministry of Education had well-defined procedure which prospective school proprietors must comply with to obtain approval.
He maintained that it was illegal and against the laws of the state to establish and operate any school including nursery, primary or secondary without an enabling licence issued by the Ministry.
Eke said the recent closure of Power House International Secondary School was due to non compliance with laid down procedures for school registration.
He added that the action was part of the clean-up in the education sector.
He said that the school was operating in a six flat private residential home comprising three-bed room flats with no recreational and sports facilities.
The commissioner said that the school, which commenced academic activities in the 2015 /2016 school calendar, did not receive approval to operate as an academic institution.
Eke said: “the school did not meet the requisite criteria; the school operates without any licence or approval from the Ministry of Education and operates from the owner’s residential building.
“There is no trace of any file whatsoever in my office showing that the proprietor applied for approval to establish a school in the state.
“We cannot allow such illegality to happen in a state that subscribe to the principle of rule of law.
“We closed down the school because it was not qualified to operate as a school due to failure of the owner to adhere to laid down procedure for establishing a school.”