The Enugu State Government has set up a committee to verify academic standards of all private primary and post-primary schools.
The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Monday that the committee would visit all private schools in the state within six months.
Eze said that the terms of reference for the committee included ascertaining the education qualifications of teachers in private schools, the school environment and infrastructure.
He said that the government would re-certify all private schools in order for them to meet approved standards.
“We are tired of seeing or hearing that children study in inhabitable conditions, as well as private schools employing unqualified teachers that know very little above the pupils they teach.
“We are going to stop people that think that opening a school is for money-making without providing the prerequisites for such schools.
“Some of these schools merge different classes, and at times, have up to three classes packed within a classroom,’’ he said.
The commissioner added that the state government would ensure that private schools would no longer employ non-professionals to teach.
“We want to be strict in ensuring that every teacher has, at least, National Certificate of Education (NCE) before teaching in any school,’’ he said.
Eze told NAN that the government would appropriately sanction defaulting schools if recommend by the committee.
The commissioner gave the assurance that government and private schools in the state would collaborate to conduct teachers’ verification in order to rid schools of unqualified ones.
