Primary, Secondary Education Remain Free in Ebonyi, Says Commissioner

By Benjamin  Nworie in Abakaliki

Ebonyi State Commissioner for Information  and State Orientation, Senator Emmanuel Onwe, has reiterated that free and compulsory primary and secondary education was still in force in the state.

He noted that the state Governor, Engr. David Umahi, remains resolute in his determination to uplift the standard of education in the state.

Briefing newsmen on the rationale for the handover of three Technical Colleges to the Catholic Church by the state government, the commissioner disowned the alleged collection of fees from children of primary and secondary schools in the state by the school authorities.

He disclosed that the state government has further given ten million Naira cash for the take off by the leadership of the Catholic Church, stressing that any other Christian denominations that have interest in taken over public school should apply to the state government.

Onwe dissociated the state government from the fraud, saying any fee collected without the knowledge of government was illegal.

He said, “It is government’s policy that no fine should be collected from pupils or students of public schools in the state without prior deliberation of the State Executive Council”.