C'River Government Urged to Tackle Unauthorized Levies by Principals of Schools

By Ogbu KOSY 

The Cross River state government has been urged to take action to prevent school principals from imposing unnecessary charges on secondary school students, following recent educational intervention measures put in place as a palliative for the federal government's removal of fuel subsidy.

In a press release issued by The Third Force's leader, Mr. Tom Johnson, the group commended the state government, led by Governor Bassey Otu, for its educational intervention efforts aimed at mitigating the effects of the federal government's subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the state. However, the group expressed concerns about school administrators potentially undermining these efforts by imposing additional charges on students.

The press release, titled 'Waiver of Tuition in Public Schools: Little Gesture with Significant Impact,' called on the government to implement necessary checks to prevent unauthorized charges by school administrators. It emphasized the importance of safeguarding the government's goodwill gesture towards the people of Cross River State.

"While awaiting far-reaching reforms in our public school system, we urge the government to put in place necessary checks to prevent school administrators from imposing other unauthorized charges on unsuspecting parents in a manner likely to defeat this good intention of our government," the press release stated.

The group concluded by expressing appreciation for the government's people-oriented policies and called for more initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of the people.

It should be noted that in September, Governor Otu announced that the state government had received N2 billion from the federal government as part payment for the promised N5 billion palliative.