Schools On Temporary Sites To Lose Licences

The Delta Government says,  it would withdraw the licences of private schools in the state that have operated for more than five years in temporary sites.

Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, gave the indication on Tuesday at a ministerial briefing by the state Ministry of Education in Asaba.

Muoboghare said that the effort was geared towards repositioning private schools in the state for effective service delivery.

He said that the withdrawal would be with effect from the next academic session in September, adding that as a result, the ministry had also stopped giving approval for schools in temporary sites.

Muoboghare said that the state government had encouraged the establishment of private institutions because the problems confronting education were enormous and government could not shoulder them alone.

He further said that since the inception of the present administration in 2007, the education sector had witnessed tremendous improvement in all ramifications.

The commissioner also said that with the introduction of free education up to the secondary school level, the number of public primary schools had increased from 1,146 in 2007 to 1,174 in 2011.

He further explained that there was a corresponding pupil enrolment of 361,225 and a teaching staff strength of 16, 802.

Muoboghare also said that the secondary schools had increased from 413 in 2007 to 831 in 2009 after but that in 2012 the number now stood at 453.

He, however, said that to meet the yearnings of the residents, especially those in the rural and river side communities, about 40 new secondary schools were established within the period under review.