486 Magic Centers: Anambra Clarifies Comment; Set To Clamp Down On Illegal Schools

                    

odogwuemekaodogwu.blogspot.com reports that Anambra state government yesterday described as false the number of
486 magic centres reported by news media as existing in the state,
saying that the 486 was referring to the illegal or unregistered
schools.

Commissioner for Education, Prof Kate Azuka Omenugha announced this in
a session with newsmen over publication in some national dailies where
she was misquoted on her comment about illegal and unregistered
schools during the 10th anniversary of St. Joseph Academic Award for
2014 at Igboukwu, Aguata local government area as founded by Chief
Bath Nwibe.

odogwuemekaodogwu.blogspot.com reports that Prof Omenugha clarified that ''illegal schools are unregistered
schools by her ministry and that they are different from so called
''Magic centers '' as reported by a cross section of the media. She
said the media misquoted her on that.

She said the state government identified 486 illegal schools which
would be shut down by the state government as part of official
measures to curb examination malpractices in the education sector,
adding that unregistered schools will not comply to specifics of
monitoring by her ministry since they are not captured, hence the need
for them to immediately register or close for business in the state.

''At no point did I use the word  'magic centers ' when I spoke with
the newsmen over illegal schools. I told them that we have over 400
illegal schools in the state. I was referring to the  unregistered and
illegal schools which is what they are. My discussion with the
journalists was on illegal schools".

Omenugha continued :''I wouldn't
have attributed such a number to the so called magic centres. Any
sensible person reading that would know it simply cannot be true. How
many WAEC and NECO centres do we have in the state that such an
outrageous number would be allotted to  the so called magic centres.
Let me say that there are schools that are not registered with the
ministry. They are regarded as illegal schools and majority of the
schools are private schools not public schools.
Anambra Education Commissioner said further :''These schools included,
nursery, primary and secondary even post secondary Institutions. We
wont tolerate such again and that was what I said the state government
will clamp down if they refuse to legalize their activities within the
shortest possible time as we have written them already through the
Area Education Officers asking them to come for registration if they
want to continue to operate in the state.
''We have told the Area Education Officers and Zonal Education
Officers to go to  these schools to know to what extent they have gone
with formalizing their registrations and we are giving them only next
week to bring back reports.
''In the upper week we would publish the names of all the illegal or
unregistered schools in the media both Newspapers and Television and
Radio stations. After that publication, we would advise parents to
withdraw their wards from them and clamp down on them.
.
She said the state is set to fight any form of center seen to be
aiding and abetting examination malpractices especially during West
African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examination  Council
(NECO) examinations and called on the public to report such centers to
the ministry.

Source: odogwuemekaodogwu.blogspot.com