Emma Elekwa
Some residents of Agu-Awka, Awka South Local Government Area, Anambra State, have decried the absence of public primary and secondary schools in the area.
They said the situation has denied them access to state government’s free education policy, appealing to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to establish public schools in the densely populated area in the heart of the capital town.
Recall that on 28 April, parents and guardians of a Catholic Church-owned nursery and primary school protested a 43 per cent fee increase arbitrarily imposed by the management just before the third term began.
The protesters said the management was exploiting them because there were no government substitutes.
The residents disclosed that Agu-Awka, which hosts the old Government House, estates, Commissioners’ Quarters, Nwakpadolu Estate and the stretch from Immigration Junction to Book Foundation along Esther Obiakor Road, had no government-owned schools.
Long distance travels
He noted that only a few institutions existed in the area, including Igwebueze Primary School, located within a Catholic Church’s premises and Nwafor Orizu Primary and Secondary Schools, used mainly for training student teachers.
According to him, students seeking access to public schools had to travel long distances to neighbouring communities such as Okpuno, Amansea and Nawfia, spending an average of N1,500 daily on transportation.
Another resident, Emeka Nwosu, explained that the population and land mass of the area justified the establishment of at least six public primary schools and three secondary schools.
He alleged that available open spaces that could have been used for schools were being taken over by private developers.
“The point is that there are no public primary or secondary schools on the Onitsha-bound lane of the expressway between Aroma Junction and UNIZIK.
Nwosu described the situation as unacceptable, noting that the area had more than 20 private secondary schools and over 30 private primary schools, without a single government-owned school.
