FCT administration to shut down 150 illegal private schools

Bala Mohammed, FCT Minister

 During the 2013 Annual Media Briefing of FCT Education Secretariat, the Education Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Kabir Usman, said the  Abuja administration has concluded arrangements to shut down over 150 substandard private schools operating illegally in the Nigerian capital by January 2014.  It was observed by the Department of Policy and Implementation (DPI) of the secretariat supervising the operations  that most private schools were operating below the expected minimum requirements as some of the schools have secondary school drop-outs as teachers.


He further added that the schools lacked infrastructure and academic standards, adding that the FCT administration, FCTA, had given approval to the DPI to shut them down as soon as the schools resumed next year. In his words, he said;  “Some of the schools are using shanties, one classroom, some are sited close to refuse dump sites, while some of the teachers are secondary school drop outs though the DPI had also accredited 384 private schools within the FCT that met the requirements and standards of the secretariat."

Mr. Usman said that the FCT Education Resource Centre (ERC) in collaboration with the Confucius Institute in China had concluded arrangements to commence the teaching of Chinese language with effect from January 2014.

“This is because China is fast becoming a dominant economy on a global scale; the Chinese language is becoming one of the global languages of business after English and French", “It becomes imperative that Nigerians learn the language as it might in future become the preferred language of business.

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