FCT shuts schools over inadequate teachers, poor facilities

Maryam Abeeb, Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory Education Secretariat, Abuja, has revealed that it has shut down some private schools over their inability to comply with standard, particularly in the areas of adequate teachers and facilities.
The FCT noted that it was important for public and private schools to key into the 21st century innovations in education, such as electronic records keeping and information and communication technology development.
According to the Deputy Director, FCT Secretariat’s Department of Quality Assurance, Mrs Titilayo Akpata, said in Abuja at a seminar for teachers and schools, with the theme, ‘e-Records Keeping: Importance, Methods and the 21st Century Perspective.’
The seminar was organised in conjunction with an ICT firm, Mercy Multi-Dimensional Project International Limited.
The director said, “We cannot say the exact number of substandard schools we have in the FCT. We use different parameters and we have quite a number of criteria. We usually look at infrastructural facilities and the quality of staffing. We are working seriously now on substandard schools.
“We have closed down some schools and sealed others. We usually go back to ensure that the schools comply with our instructions. We give them time to put some of our recommendations in place.
“Our expectation from schools at this seminar is to work hard on electronic records keeping. We must ensure that teachers keep records as effectively and efficiently as they should. A child has the right to question a teacher, if for example, the names or the scores are wrongly recorded.
“Teachers must enter records appropriately as we are now having more literate parents that can pick a school up legally if a child’s records are wrongly entered. We know that this is the technological age and anyone cannot deny it.
“Technology makes education delivery more impactful. We expect that schools should have the required ICT equipment such as computers where they can log in, store data and be able to retrieve it for inspection.”
The keynote speaker at the programme, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Dr Inuwa Abdullahi, urged the schools to ensure that their operations and teaching were ICT-driven.