Nasarawa sacks five principals

The Nasarawa State Government says it has removed five principals from different schools for charging fees from students.

Ramatu Ajuji-Abubakar, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, made this known during an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lafia on Tuesday.

“From our investigation so far, we discovered and have removed five principals of different schools for charging students fees,” she said.

She further threatened to sanction any principal in public schools caught collecting fees from students.

According to her, the free education policy of the State Government is still in force from primary to secondary levels.

“Students are not supposed to pay any money and any principal caught extorting money from the unsuspecting students in the name of school fees would be sanctioned.

“Students in all the public boarding schools across the state are not to pay money or give any food item as the government has taken full charge of their feeding,” the commissioner said.

She explained that the state government, through the ministry, had set the machinery in motion to check illegal practices by principals.

Ajuji-Abubakar added that the government has provided massive infrastructure at both primary and secondary schools in the state in order to ensure a conducive environment for teachers and students.

She said in spite of the huge investments of government in providing infrastructure and feeding for boarding students, the government was still battling with the high influx of students from private schools.

She cautioned the leadership of Parent-Teacher Association in the state not to charge the students any money without permission from the ministry as doing so would not be tolerated.

Recall that the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, had in a similar move warned principals of Unity Colleges to adhere strictly to the directive on the collection of only authorised school fees.

Adamu had directed that all authorised cost items, including boarding fees, must be communicated to parents in writing and copied to the ministry before any payment could be demanded.

The minister threatened to sack any principal who violated the directive.