ROCHAS EMPOWERS ANCOPSS FOR BETTER SERVICE DELIVERY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Imo State Governor in hand shake with the secondary school principals...........................................

The Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has proposed the decentralization of authority in the secondary school system in Imo State.

Speaking during an interactive session with members of the All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) at the Sam Mbakwe Expanded EXCO Chambers, Government House, Owerri today, Governor Rochas Okorocha proposed to grant autonomous statuses to all the secondary schools in Imo State. According to him the new system which will be practiced soon will guarantee that each secondary school principal will henceforth control all the money provided by the government for the running of the school, including money meant for the payment of teachers’ salaries. This idea, said the governor, is to avoid the delay usually experienced by principals and teachers in securing their entitlements from the ministry of Education.

By this new arrangement, said governor Okorocha, a principal has the right to suspend or reject a teacher on the basis of incompetence or malpractice.

Speaking further at the meeting, Governor Okorocha said that all the money meant for the upkeep of the school for one year will be paid into the bank with the principal as the signatory to the account. The principal, according to the governor, will double as the administrator and head of the school.

The governor told the principals to develop a farm each in their various schools and to assist the government of the day in enlightening the students on the benefits of the Fourth Tier government proposed by his administration, adding that the Community Government Council remains the only solution to the economic problems facing Imo State.

As a measure aimed at fostering excellence in the school system, the governor said that no school should have a population of less than five hundred or more than one thousand pupils, adding that the students should be instructed to plant at least, one palm tree each in their homes.

Responding, the Imo State Chairman of ANCOPSS, Mr Michael Ogoamaka commended the governor for his numerous achievements in office in the past one year and urged him to look into issues bordering on the teachers’ and principal’ promotion as well as the monthly subvention given the secondary schools presently by the State government.

The highpoint of the occasion is the applause by the principals, signaling their acceptance of the offer given them by the governor in respect of the administration of the financial needs of the schools.

Over five hundred principals from the various secondary schools in Imo State attended the meeting.

Also in attendance was the Imo State Commissioner for Education, Professor(Mrs) Adaobi Obasi and the Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr Ifeanyi Nwachukwu.