Abia govt set to sanction school heads collecting illegal levies

ABIA State Commissioner for Education, Professor Ikechi Mgbeoji, has threatened to deal with school heads caught collecting any form of illegal levy from pupils or students.

Professor Mgbeoji gave the warning in his office while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the approved levy imposed by the state government on schools.

According to him, the only approved levy by government on schools, the Education Development Levy, is N5,200, which he said is meant to assist the government in the infrastructural development of schools across the state.

“The Education Development Levy as approved by government is N5,200, which is to enable us deal with the infrastructural decay in our schools. Out of that, principals of schools are required to keep back N2,600 per student. The students required to pay this levy are from JSS1 to SSS3, while primary school pupils are completely exempted from the levy.

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“If there is any body that collects money from these pupils, it is an illegal levy. This development levy, which is not compulsory, the part of the money kept by the school heads are to be used to buy chalk, cut grass, and (take care of) other school needs. The other part of the levy is what we have used to renovate 70 secondary schools and sunk 40 boreholes in these schools.

“If there is still any school principal still collecting anything above the approved N5,200, that principal is a criminal and a disgrace to the school system; and if we find such a person, (he or she) will be made to face the full wrath of the law.”

He solicited the support of Old Students Associations in quest by the state government to tackle infrastructural decay in public schools.