APSON To Partner Primary Education Ministry To Improve Educational Standard In Delta

By Magnus Emuji

The Delta State Chairman of the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Comr. Keno Emiaso, has reiterated the resolve of the association to strengthen the existing harmonious relationship with State Ministry of Primary Education and partner with it towards improving educational standard in the State.

Come. Emiaso stated this in Asaba when he led the Executive members of the association on a courtesy visit to the Commissioner for Primary Education, Dr. Kingsley Ashibogwu.

He said that private schools had always contributed to the economic development in the State as well as complementing government’s giant strides in the sector, adding that private schools needed to be encouraged.

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The APSON Chairman enumerated some of their challenges to include the proliferation of private school associations in the State, cumbersome processes of registration of new private primary schools in the State, inability of government to consolidate private schools renewal fees and other statutory levies as well certain policies being implemented by the Ministry without involving stakeholders in private schools associations.

He disclosed that the last revalidation exercise that was done by the Ministry was less than ten years ago and stressed that if the Ministry was going to carry another revalidation, it should be conducted for those that were not revalidated when the last one was done for one reason or the other.

Comr. Emiaso identified the reason some of their members were unable to go through the last revalidation to include their inability to lay hand on the documents required for the revalidation exercise, adding that another reason was that some of them were off from operation as at when the last revalidation was done.

Responding, the State Commissioner for Primary Education, Dr. Kingsley Ashibogwu frowned at the alarming rate of the existence of unregistered schools in the State and hinted that the Ministry would soon conduct revalidation exercise.

While urging owners of registered private schools in the State to assist the Ministry in fishing out unregistered schools that were in one way or the other tarnishing their image

, Dr. Ashibogwu told them that they would be carried along in the decision making process when the need arose.

He appealed to them to desist from accepting pupils from unregistered and unrecognized private schools as their primary six candidates.