Over 7,000 Unregistered Private Schools Operating in Lagos – Deputy Governor

The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, on Thursday has decried the high number of private schools operating illegally in the state, saying that over 7,000 private schools in the state were not registered with the ministry of education and as such they were operating illegally.

Adebule spoke at the Stakeholders’ Meeting with Proprietors and Owners of Private Schools organised by the Office of Education Quality Assurance of the Lagos State Ministry of Education.

“Statistics show that we have over 11, 000 private schools in the state, but only 4, 000 are registered with the ministry of education, meaning that many are operating illegally.

“Many private schools do not employ qualified teachers and school administrators and at the end, students’ outcome and performances will be negatively affected.

“Right now, we are dealing with the cases of 25 schools sanctioned by WAEC for malpractices. This is not good at all as it affects the state in terms of national rating.

“I urge school owners to stop cutting corners for the sake of making money and protect the integrity of the education sector, ” she said.

Adebule said the government would sanction and shut down any private school that did not comply with laws and regulation of the state’s education sector.

The deputy governor said that the government would commence census of private schools in the state and intensify regulation to ensure that required standards were upheld.

She also promised to meet with the tax authority to review levies, dues and taxes, to make operations easier for proprietors.