Anambra State government has warned principals of secondary schools against unnecessary taxing of students.
Commissioner for Education Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh stated this while addressing principals at the Principals’ Retreat at Madonna Renewal Centre, Nkpor.
She urged them to work with the understanding that all fingers were not equal and to avoid inflicting injury on troubled souls.
She said: “Most students are passing through one hardship or the other. Do not compound the problem with unnecessary tax and punishment.
“Nothing is compulsory in Anambra educational system. Hence, on no account should a student be driven out of class, beaten or sent home for being unable to buy textbooks.
“The use of persuasion is more effective in making students comply with directives or injunctions.”
The commissioner directed the principals to set up school bookshops on school premises to help students buy government-approved textbooks, warning that prices should not be higher than what is obtainable in the open market
On the use of the biometric portal in the state educational space, Chuma-Udeh disclosed that the Soludo-led administration was out to change the face of Anambra schools and attract international awareness to the success and plight of the sector.
She called on principals to upload photographs of their best and worst facilities to the portal.
Prof. Chuma-Udeh assured the principals that the governor was working relentlessly towards finding solutions to their problems.
“I want to assure you that Governor Chukwuma Soludu holds you close to his heart. Being a teacher himself and a seasoned one, he knows your pains, pangs and struggles.
“He is working tirelessly, looking for ways to make life easier and your workload less tedious,” she said.
Chairman, Anambra House Committee on Education, Ejike Okechukwu, commended the principals for holding forte despite challenges they were encountering in their places of work.
Describing principals as managers of schools, Okechukwu argued that they ought to know how best to harness teachers’ potentials for the good of students in their care, adding: “The rise and fall of a school lies squarely on the shoulder of the principal.”