Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State says the state government will begin to clampdown on substandard schools, which do not have facilities like its model schools.
Ikpeazu disclosed this on Friday after inspecting work at Abayi Umuocham Primary School and Osusu-Amaukwa Community Primary School, which were among the four model schools built by the state government.
“I mentioned quite early in 2015 that I was not going to bother myself about infrastructure, especially outdoor infrastructure in most schools because as at that time, I had no good example of a school.
“And now, having put up four model schools, I now have a good example of a model school, and now I ask everybody whether you are a proprietor of schools or in the public space, to go and see the model schools we have built and take a cue.
“We must have adequate playground for all kinds of sports and Inter-House sports, which will be taken very seriously.
“We are going to go to grassroots sports development and make sure we groom them from there; so it is going to take the front burner and I tell you we are going to be very serious about that.
“This is the time we are going to clampdown on sub-standard schools; there cannot be any school in a flat.
“You must show us premises, conveniences for teachers and for pupils; so the minimum standard will be these model schools,” he said.
The governor said he would ensure every local government got a model school after the completion of the first four he built.
He stressed that any school his administration built “which is not fit and proper” for his own children would not “be fit and proper” for any Abia child.
He said that the model schools were coming with ultra-modern laboratories, e-libraries powered by solar, and premises for teachers’ residences.
He noted that the teachers’ residences was needed to “create a semblance of an academic environment where teachers and students can interact 24/7.”
Ikpeazu said that the government would look into the possibility of securing the porous schools premises using Abia Vigilante Services to protect the schools and their equipment.
