HANDOVER OF SCHOOLS TO OWNERS: ABIA GOVERNMENT TO PAY SALARIES OF TEACHERS TILL 2015.

HANDOVER OF SCHOOLS TO OWNERS: ABIA GOVERNMENT TO PAY SALARIES OF TEACHERS TILL 2015

Abia State governor, Chief Theodore Orji says that the state would pay salaries and pensions of teachers in the schools recently handed over to their original owners till 2015.

The governor stated this at a ceremony to mark the return of schools to the owners in Umuahia, last Friday.

Orji said thegovernment will support such schools through the payment of the teachers salary and pension till 2015, as the teachers are expected to remain in suchschools, unless those who want to change and would be posted out.

He recalled that the handing over includes both privately owned schools and those established by the missionaries which were taken over by the government of the defunct East Central State after the civil war in 1970.

While handing over 19 schools to the original owners,Orji said that the decision to hand over the schools back to their original owners
is final as it is backed by legislation.

The governor lamented that the school system in the 60s were an epitome of discipline, quality education and also helped to shape the future of the country, stressing that such is no longer the case.

He expressed hope that the return of the schools to their owners would increase the quality of education and increase discipline among the students.

Senator Ike Nwachukwu who was the chairman of the occasion posited that before the government took over the schools in 1970, the standard of education was high, as discipline wass the order of the day which guaranteed the production of quality graduates.

Nwachukwu further blamed poor management for the decay in the school system, arguing that such was not obtained when the schools were being
run by the missionaries.

He expressed gratitude to the governor for the decision to return the schools to their original owners, adding that the move would uplift the standard of education and called on those who will receive the schools to manage them well.

Responding, the Catholic Bishop of Umuahia, Most Rev Lucius Ugorji, thanked the governor and assured that they will instil discipline also help to improve the standard of education.

Pointblanknews.com gathered that Qua Iboe Church, now United Evangelical Church(UEC) got Wilcox Memorial Comprehensive Secondary School, Ogbor Hill, Aba, while the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) got Ihie High school.

Others include the Presbyterian Church which got All Saints Secondary School, Ehere, Aba,amongst others.