Private schools in Lagos now 18,573 ― Commissioner

The Lagos State government has given approval for the establishment to new 173 private primary and secondary schools across its five education divisions.

This addition, comprising 104 nursery\primary and 69 secondary, is the first set of nursery\primary and secondary schools to be approved by the current administration in the state out of a total of 217 that applied same time, bringing the total number of such schools to 18, 573 across the 20 local government areas of the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, made this known while giving letters of approval to the owners of the new schools at Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja.

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She said the approval was necessary as the state recognises the vital roles of private schools in joining the government to provide quality and quantitative education to the people of the state, which is daily increasing in population, especially that of migrants.

According to her, the current administration is passionate about giving access to all children of school-going age.

“And despite the fact that the number of schools in Lagos, especially in the private sector, has increased tremendously, the yawning gap between demand and supply clearly shows that more schools are needed to meet our educational target. We need more private schools to come on board for us to be able to cater to the ever-increasing educational needs of a fast-growing metropolis like ours, ” she explained.

Speaking further, the commissioner, in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday by the Assistant Director in the Public Affairs Unit of the ministry, Mr Kayode Sutton, urged the remaining 44 schools that could not meet up with the criteria for approval which she said was based on standards to go home and do the needful in order for to get their own approval in due course.

While advising owners of all private schools in the state to always reflect excellence in their service delivery and also integrate 21st century skills into their teaching methods, she equally urged them to make provision for students with special needs, employ only qualified teachers and emphasise digital literacy as well as adhere to the recommended curriculum for teaching.

In her own remarks at the event, Director, state’s Private Education and Special Programmes, Mrs Adetutu Adebowale, advised the owners of the new schools to maintain an acceptable standard so as to be able to produce well- rounded students.

Responding separately on behalf of the primary and secondary schools, the duo of Mrs Anidebe Chinyelu and Mr Femi Olaiya respectively, asked the government to always update curriculum and make them available on time.

They also promised to stick to the rules and regulations guiding their operations.