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By Madu Obi
Awka- THE Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has abolished payment of fees and levies in all public schools in the state.
The governor, who announced the new policy during his visit to two schools in Obosi and Onitsha, said although before now public schools in the state were tuition-free, all manner of levies were indiscriminately imposed on the pupils in virtually all the schools in the state.
He said for instance, pupils in JSS1 to JSS3 were paying as much as N5,000 to N8,000 depending on the school as levies, while pupils in SSS1 to SSS3 were also paying between N8,000 to N12,000 as levies depending on the school.
Similarly, he added, those in primary schools paid as much as N2,000 in levies.
Soludo said aside being tuition-free, all manner of levies from nursery to primary six have been completely abolished in all public schools, just as all manner of levies in JSS1 to JSS3 which ranged from N5,000 to N8,000 have also been completely abolished.
He, however, added that levies in SSS1 to SSS2 which hitherto were between N8,000 to N12,000 have been drastically reduced to N5,000, adding that no pupil in this category would pay above the stipulated amount of N5,000.
The amount, he stated, would, however, be used as operational cost for the schools, in addition to other support from the state government
The governor added that the implication is that, pupils in Nursery to Primary schools, as well as JSS1 to JSS3 students will no longer pay any form of fee or levy in Anambra schools starting from the 2023/2024 academic session.
"Students in SSS1 to SSS3 will not pay more than five thousand naira," he said.
According to him, the constitution of Nigeria requires governments in the country to, as soon as it is practicable, offer free primary or secondary education.
He observed that among the four categories of schools in the state, government-run public schools were the least in terms of infrastructure, assuring that his administration would begin massive revolution to bring out public education to be a model in the education sector.
He said government would be investing and rebuilding infrastructure in the schools in the coming weeks and months.
He also promised to roll-out government's full agenda for the education sector in the coming days
Soludo also emphasized the need to use education as an opportunity equaliser, describing education as not just the future, but the present.
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