By Tony Okafor, Awka
The Anambra State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked Governor Prof Chukwuma Soludo to clarify what his free education policy really means.
The APC’s query followed the declaration of a levy-free education in the Anambra State School System from nursery to JSS3 by the governor early this week.
The governor also announced a reduction of levies in the senior secondary level, pegging the levy at N5,000 for running cost for schools, that would not be remitted to government’s coffers.
Reacting to the development on Saturday in a statement by Chief Okelo Madukaife, the Anambra State Chapter of the APC, asked the governor to clarify the issue to avoid obvious ambiguity.
The statement read in part,”Our dynamic chapter of the great All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet unmoved like discerning Anambra people,by the spontaneous pronouncement of Gov. Chukwuma Soludo while attending a function in Ado Girls Secondaty School, Onitsha, on September 19, 2023 ,that a plethora of fees charged by Anambra State-owned schools will be stopped.
“Only a proper clarification and backed up by firm official action would point the direction that Soludo’s government wants to go.
“For lack of this badly-needed clarity, these remarks made amid understandable juvenile cheers have been interpreted in different ways by different sections of the media; some as abolishing of additional payments after school fees and others as removal of fees (emplacement of free education) from nursery school to junior secondary school.
The government of Anambra State now needs to clarify the nature and extent of the governor’s new drive,which, according to the 19-month-old government, runs from ‘this term’. ( 2023/2024 first term).
“Without justifying the action of any school that places parents under stress in and out of difficult times, every fee is charged for a purpose , overt or covert and are oftentimes intended to fill a vacuum left by Anambra State Government in funding.
“Any policy that claims to have eliminated these payments must as a basic minimum, clarify how those headings will be funded and what stands the government in better stead than before now to guarantee sustained funding on these activities, for the sake of standards.
“In our peculiar circumstance, where government manages to strangulate local governments,it is needless to stress that the financial projections backing the withdrawal of ‘schools subsidies’ should be based of the state government funds, and not LG funds,except in partnerships approved by various elected LG legislatures.
“Outside this,we might be heading back to those things that erase peoples trust in government by creating a huge gap between talk and action.
“The clarification sought from the government now has to include in clear terms whether Soludo’s referenced pronouncement meant that there will be no school fees in these schools or that after school fees,there should be no additional charges, and who has approved the monies to stand the gap.
“We restate that security, power/energy ,local government elections, erosion checks and creative management of the impact of floods are top needs for Anambra State.”
