From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Eight headteachers in the employ of the Anambra State Government have been demoted and ordered to hand over to their juniors for flouting the free education policy of the state by extorting their students through the introduction of various unapproved fees among other corrupt practices.
Executive Chairman, Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board, (ASUBEB), Dr. Vera Nwadinobi, made the disclosure yesterday in Awka, during a press briefing on the illegal collection of fees and levies by some school heads in the state.
Nwadibobi stated that the board was compelled to address journalists following the disturbing incidents in some of the primary and junior secondary schools in the state.
She recalled that Governor Chukwuma Soludo had recently introduced a free and compulsory education policy in the state, aimed at ensuring that no child of school age is deprived of the opportunity and benefits of basic education.
She said the policy, since inception, had run smoothly in the state, leading to increased and encouraging enrolment in the public schools and the elimination of out-of-school syndrome. This, she noted, has provided relief to most indigent parents and guardians as the burden of school fees and other sundry expenses placed on them have drastically reduced.
The ASUBEB Chairman, however, regretted that despite the efforts of the state government, some school heads in the state were sabotaging the efforts of the state government in this direction by introducing payment of certain unauthorised fees. This, she said, has made the board set up an investigation team to go round some public schools in the state to determine the extent to which parents and guardians were being extorted in the guise of payment of running costs by some unscrupulous school heads.
She said field reports from the investigation team revealed that in Awada Primary School 1-6, Obosi, for instance, the head teachers charged fees for extra lessons for all the pupils, ink fillers for markers, blue pens and red pens.
Consequently, she disclosed that the defaulting headteachers, from Awada Primary School 1-6 Mrs Okoye Uju, Mrs Nwafor Eunice Nwanneka, Mrs Nwakaku patience Obioma, Mrs Aniwetalu Elizabeth Ekene, Mrs Odionu Gloria Nkolika and Mrs Muluako Augustine have been ordered to step down from their positions as head teachers, hand over to the next ranking office and also refund all monies collected from learners.
She disclosed that last week, two headteachers in Awka North LGA were also demoted from their positions and stepped down by the Board as a result of their negligence to duty and corrupt leadership while many more stringent disciplinary measures awaited others if they did not willingly comply with the policy of Mr. Governor on free and compulsory education in the state.
“Henceforth, we will not just demote but recommend outright dismissal from service for any head teacher or principal who goes contrary to the free education policy. We cannot continue to condone such irresponsible conduct by any teacher or school head to extort money from parents and guardians, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the free education and zero levy policy of the state,” she stated.