Public schools urged to solicit assistance of alma mata for development

Dr Uche Aniekeokwu, immediate past Principal of Igwebuike Grammar School Awka has called on heads of schools to engage old students rather than depend on state government for development.

In an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday in Awka , he narrated the decay bedeviling the public school sector.

“Public school used to be among the best in time past in Anambra not until mission school started getting hundreds of millions of naira from the state government.

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“This was resulting from wealthy individuals enrolling their wards in such schools.

“In my school where I retired last October, we engaged our old boys and they have done the parameter fence of the school including projects as building administrative block.

“The school produced about three Army Generals, House of Assembly Speaker, majority leader and host of others that have come together to help develop the school,” he said.

Aniekeokwu lamented the stress they went through in administering the school due to poor funds from the state government.

“In mission schools, they have not more than 30 students in a class with enough teachers.

“While in Igwebuike Grammar School of the 1400 students, we have only 35 teachers to manage them due to retirement while no replacement was done till I retired,” he said.

He noted that public  schools got paltry N60,000 from the state government per year , which could not measure up with mission schools that were well taken care of?