The Lagos State Government, through the Office of Education Quality Assurance, has presented provisional approval letters to 199 new private school owners, thereby increasing the number of registered private primary and secondary schools in the state from 5,423 to 5,622.
The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Alli-Balogun, who presented the letters to some of the new school owners at the Education Resource Centre, Ojodu, on Thursday, called for adequate measures to ensuring child safety in all approved schools in the state.
While commending the owners for taking the bold step of seeking the government’s approval, Alli-Balogun, decried the number of unregistered schools in the state, adding that about 12,000 private schools were operating without statutory approvals.
He noted that 80 per cent of the menace of child abuse cases in Lagos State are from unapproved schools in the state, according to a statement on Friday.
The commissioner was quoted as saying that “the ministry will continue to sanitise the education sector and make it thrive for only government-recognised schools in the state.
“Ensure adequate safety measures are taken to secure the life of every child in your school and let your teachers and supporting staff imbibe the safety measures as part of school governance culture”.
In his goodwill message, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Abayomi Abolaji, urged the school owners to be guided by the drive to bring up children that would benefit themselves, their families, and the entire nation in the future.
Abolaji said, “Let not the commercial reason overshadow the basic and most important reason for establishing a school. As a government, we know that we can’t do it alone, we look up to you as our partners to ensure that the standard of education is at par with the excellent status that Lagos is known for”.
