The Igbo-Etiti Local Government Council in Enugu State has threatened to shut down private schools still observing the illegal sit-at-home on Mondays.
Urging parents and guardians to release their children or wards, it gave the assurance that security had been put in place to ensure their safety.
The chairman, Public Schools Supervision Committee (PSSC), Dr Amadi Aroh, gave the warning on Tuesday during a meeting with proprietors of private schools in Ogbede.
Mr Aroh said the warning was in line with the vision of the council chairman, Dr Eric Odo, to ensure academic activities were unhindered in both public and private schools in the area.
The PSSC chairman expressed displeasure that private schools in Igbo-Etiti shun school on Mondays; months after the public schools started.
He said, “The local government has successfully stopped sit-at-home in public schools. However, the private schools have not adjusted to the new reality, thus reducing the number of schooling days.
From next Monday, the PSSC will embark on monitoring, and any private school that fails to open will be shut down. The proprietor will be considered as a saboteur to the government’s effort to move education forward in Igbo-Etiti. Private schools must start unfailingly on Mondays because the LGA and the state Ministry of Education will sanction any school that fails to comply with the order.’’
The PSSC chairman stressed the importance of maintaining quality assurance in the teaching and learning in private schools.
According to him, the major aim of establishing a school, which is to transfer knowledge from one individual to another, must be sustained.
Speaking on behalf of other proprietors, Dominic Ngwu, acknowledged the efforts of the council chairman and the PSSC to reposition the education sector in Igbo-Etiti.
Mr Ngwu promised that proprietors of private schools in the area would comply with the order to reopen their schools on Mondays.
