The Imo State government has said that it has no plan to abolish mixed schools in the state but would rather establish more technical schools and promote academic competition among male and female students.
Johncliff Nwadike, a professor and commissioner for education, who dropped the hint, said that the state government would soon employ at least 10,000 primary school teachers and extend the same to post-primary schools, adding that principals had been directed to reintroduce inter-house sports competitions in their schools to promote athletic competitions among students, assuring that Education is free in all schools in the state.
Nwadike, who disclosed this to newsmen in his office while speaking on the activities of his ministry said that the state government would equally establish more special schools for the physically challenged individuals, equip them with modern teaching and learning facilities and also establish more adult education centres.
Nwadike who also frowned at the proliferation of private schools in the state in utter violation of the government’s standard guidelines for the establishment of such schools said that a clamp down on these schools would soon commence as according to him, they are merely business centres intent to make profits.
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“Before you establish a school, you must meet the official requirements but some of the people they present as teachers are fake and quacks and again, I have discovered that some of the taskforce put in place to checkmate them usually compromise and I quickly steeped them down,” he said.
The professor of history and international studies added that government had commenced measures to clear roads/streets in the state of hawking by school children during school hours even as he blamed some parents for the unhealthy trend.
Apart from sustaining government’s “school feeding programme” to spare the children of hunger while in schools, Nwadike said that government has plans to approach the World Bank for assistance to weed the children off the streets during school hours.
“Some of these children are illegal migrants and they constitute serious nuisance to the state and make the public uncomfortable,” he said.
He pleaded with community leaders, traditional rulers, town union executive, PTAs and old boys/old girls associations to assist the government in the promotion of security in schools, even as he charged heads of schools to use part of the fund they normally realize from the use of their school premises by individuals and organization to take care of some challenges confronting their schools.
He attributed the delay in the take off of the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education (AIFCE) Owerri as a federal university of education to senseless bickering, internal wrangling and fear of existence by some individuals.
“Some people are trying to frustrate the implementation for selfish reasons. There must be adjustment and re-adjustment before it can really take off as a federal university of education.
“However, with time, all these problems will be sorted out and by this, I mean the internal politics for survival,” he said.
