The management of Early Dew Montessori Academy, Enugu, has tendered an unreserved apology to the Enugu State Government for the unprofessional act displayed by a teacher in the school.
A teacher had invited armed police officers to the school premises to threaten some school children between the ages of four and seven for failure to do their assignments.
In the letter of apology, addressed to Commissioner for Education, Enugu State, the authorities of the school “apologise most profusely for the embarrassment to your esteemed office and the Executive Governor of the State whose unfailing support for the education sector seemed to have been sullied.”
It also “tendered our unqualified apologies to all those out there whose sense of decency and civility may have been offended by the unfortunate incident.
“The unprofessional act was most uncalled for as it was overzealousness by the head teacher taken too far.
“There was no intention whatsoever to arrest any child as alleged, as no child was taken outside the school premises.”
The school promised that such will never happen again under their watch and appealed “most humbly that the closure of the school be lifted so that our children are not unduly affected negatively by the continued closure of the school.”
The Commissioner for Education, Uche Eze had, on receiving reports from concerned citizens of the unfortunate incident, visited the school.
He withdrew the school’s operational licence immediately after confirming that the incident took place.
A letter by Mr. Eze, dated February 20, and addressed to the school’s proprietress, stated that the act “constitutes gross professional misconduct and could leave the children psychologically traumatized.”
The letter stressed that “it also has the potential of diminishing the person of the child and making him or her live in perpetual fear of schooling.”
The act was greeted with wide condemnation from the public, especially in the social media