The government of Anambra State has cautioned secondary school principals against overtaxing their students.
Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, Commissioner for Education, stated this while speaking to principals at the Principals’ Retreat at Madonna Renewal Centre in 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
she assured the principals that the governor was working relentlessly towards finding solutions to their problems.
Chairman, Anambra House Committee on Education, Ejike Okechukwu, commended the principals for holding forte despite challenges they were encountering in their places of work.
Okechukwu, who described principals as school managers, argued that they should know how to best harness teachers’ potentials for the benefit of students in their care, adding, “The rise and fall of a school lies squarely on the shoulders of the principal.”
