The Kwara State Commissioner for Education, Wemi Jones, has said that the Kogi Government will sanction secondary school principals or head teachers of public primary schools who sabotage its free education policy.
The commissioner issued this warning on Monday at the 2024 Children’s Day celebration held at Muhammad Buhari Square in Lokoja.
Jones emphasised that public schools had remained tuition-free and declared that “any principal or head teacher who smuggles fees into the system does so at his or her peril.”
The commissioner warned that erring officials would be severely punished, and advised parents and students to report erring officials to the authority.
He stressed that the government had prioritized education and gave all the attention needed to its functional growth.
Jones maintained that since the assumption of office of the immediate past and present administrations, education had been on the front burner of its thematic areas of concentration.
He disclosed that the administration had successfully enacted education law which exempted students and pupils from payment of both internal and external examinations.
The examinations covered include WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, JAMB, BECE and others, he said, and advised parents and students to report any infraction from their schools.
“No student is allowed to pay fees in any guise. Both internal examinations and public examinations are free.
Jones advised students to justify the huge investment outlay by taking their studies seriously, even as extracurricular activities could be an added advantage.
