FCT Shuts Down Private Schools

The Federal Capital Territory Education Secretariat, Abuja, has shut down some private schools.

Disclosing this in Abuja on Friday 13th March, 2020, the Deputy Director, FCT Secretariat’s Department of Quality Assurance, Mrs Titilayo Akpata, stated that the action was due to poor standard, shortage of teachers and facilities.

She added that it was imperative for schools, either public or private to meet up with the 21st century standard in education.

Mrs Titilayo stated this at a seminar for teachers and schools, with the theme, ‘e-Records Keeping: Importance, Methods and the 21st Century Perspective.’

The seminar was organised in conjunction with an ICT firm, Mercy Multi-Dimensional Project International Limited.

“We cannot say the exact number of substandard schools we have in the FCT. Therefore,we use different parameters, and we have quite a number of criteria. We usually look at infrastructural facilities and the quality of staffing. We are working seriously now on substandard schools,” she said.

“Meanwhile, we have closed down some schools and sealed others. We usually go back to ensure that the schools comply with our instructions. We give them time to put some of our recommendations in place.

“Our expectation from schools at this seminar is to work hard on electronic records keeping. We must ensure that teachers keep records as effectively and efficiently as they should. A child has the right to question a teacher, if for example, the names or the scores are wrongly recorded,” she stated.

“Technology makes education delivery more impactful. We expect that schools should have the required ICT equipment such as computers where they can log in, store data and be able to retrieve it for inspection,” she concluded.