Imo govt bans extortion in private schools, threatens licence revocation

Imo State Government has warned owners of private schools in the state to immediately stop all forms of extortion and arbitrary charges imposed on parents and students.

Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education, Prof. Bernard-Thompson O. Ikegwuoha, issued the warning after a tripartite meeting in his office to review new rules and regulations being introduced for private schools in the state.

Ikegwuoha specifically warned that private schools must not demand items such as toilet rolls, cutlasses, hoes and other materials as conditions for admission into Junior Secondary School One (JSS1) and Senior Secondary School One (SSS1).

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The commissioner, who insisted that the practice had been banned, threatened to revoke or withdraw the licences and approval letters of schools that violated the directive.

He advised school proprietors to make things easier for parents as the new academic session begins on September 14, 2026.

He said, “This practice is banned with immediate effect. Violators will have their licence/approval letters revoked and withdrawn.”

The commissioner also directed that parents should not be compelled to purchase textbooks for now, saying a joint committee comprising proprietors of private schools, the management of the State Education Management Board (SEMB) and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education had been constituted to agree on standardised textbook prices across the state.

He said the review would cover subjects including English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Agricultural Science, Computer Studies and Solar Repairs, among others.

“The price reviews are for the following subjects, but not limited to: English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Agricultural Science, Computer, Solar Repairs, etc,” he said.

Ikegwuoha said the approved prices would be announced to the public after the joint committee submits its recommendations to the ministry.

He insisted that, pending the conclusion of the process, no parent should pay for textbooks from any list issued by proprietors of private schools, head teachers or principals of public primary and secondary schools in the state.

On school fees and levies, the commissioner directed all schools to issue receipts for tuition fees, with every other levy separately itemised on the receipt to promote transparency and accountability.

“Parents must demand this information from the management of the schools where your children attend. PTA levies in private primary and secondary schools must be determined by two parents and a teacher only,” he said.

He added that accounts for Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) funds must have two parents and one teacher as signatories, stressing that proprietors should no longer control or determine how PTA funds are spent without the approval of the association.

“It is now agreed with the proprietors of private schools and public schools that it will be the PTA, and not the proprietors, that will decide how and on what the PTA money collected will be spent. Proprietors of private schools can no longer make that determination for the parents,” he said.

On examination fees, Ikegwuoha said registration fees for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO) and other external examinations must be uniform across public and private schools.

He said principals and head teachers would no longer be allowed to fix examination fees based on their schools’ preferred charges, profits or other financial considerations.

The commissioner maintained that there would be no further arbitrary or indiscriminate charging of examination registration fees for individual examinations across schools in Imo.