Cross River State Commissioner for Education, Godwin Amanke, has confirmed the sacking of 12 secondary school principals in the employ of the state government as well as the suspension of six others after they were found to have perfected schemes through which several sums of money were extorted from unsuspecting students.
Amanke who made this disclosure while speaking with journalists in Calabar, the state capital, also informed that 16 secondary school teachers and principals were accordingly transferred to rural areas as a punitive measure for imposing dubious charges on students.
“Tuition fee in the state is free but some Cross River teachers and principals connived to alarmingly inflate other charges, which is not acceptable at all. We have suspended six principals so far over the unusual and inflated charges on students. We have given several queries to others involved in illegal charges and dealings, including bribing and acceptance of bribes to be posted to township schools”, he told journalists.
While the names of the culprits were not made public, Amanke further disclosed that “these principals collect a hefty sum of N40,000 from each student as against N1,200. They collect[ed] fees for three terms upfront, claiming that many students do abandon their schools after taking WAEC exams. We are monitoring defaulting teachers and principals, and won’t hesitate to wield the big stick.”
Cultism, he was insistent, is a big menace in schools in the state, adding that education officials in the state have had to move around schools daily to ward off and advise against this nefarious activity and other indecent acts. Parents and guardians were further implored to do their bit and not to leave the task of curbing cultism to government alone.
Comments on “C’River Sacks 12 School Principals, Suspends Six Others”