The Akwa Ibom State Government has shut down more than 326 illegal schools across the state, with over 15 additional schools closed in an ongoing enforcement exercise for the 2026/2027 academic session.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ubong Umoh, disclosed this during a ministerial media briefing in Uyo, saying the exercise was aimed at protecting pupils and students from unsafe learning environments and ensuring that schools operate in line with government-approved standards.
Umoh said the government began an aggressive enforcement exercise in September and October 2025 after giving proprietors of unapproved schools sufficient time to regularise their operations, beginning from the third term of the 2024/2025 academic session and continuing through the holidays.
Violations Behind School Closures
The commissioner said the affected schools were shut down for various violations, including operating without approval, breaching the conditions of their approval, operating from unauthorised locations and providing substandard learning environments.
He said inspections uncovered cases where teachers with only primary or secondary school qualifications were teaching pupils.
According to him, some schools also operated all classes from Primary One to Primary Six in a single classroom.
Umoh further disclosed that some unapproved schools were operating in churches, residential buildings, bedrooms, two-bedroom flats and one-room self-contained apartments partitioned into makeshift classrooms.
Enforcement to Continue
The commissioner said the enforcement exercise would continue, warning that proprietors who reopened schools after they had been shut down were handed over to the police for prosecution.
He said the state had commenced another round of enforcement for the 2026/2027 academic session, with more than 15 schools closed within the first two days of the exercise.
Umoh urged parents to verify the approval status of schools before enrolling their children, noting that the government had continued to equip public schools and provide free education under its free and compulsory education policy.
He also called on parents and members of the public to report schools, principals or teachers collecting unauthorised levies from pupils and students.
Government Rehabilitates 199 Schools
Speaking on investments in basic education, Umoh said the State Universal Basic Education Board (AKSUBEB) had completed the rehabilitation of 199 primary and junior secondary schools across the state over a three-year period.
He said the interventions covered classrooms, administrative blocks, perimeter fencing, water supply and toilet facilities.
According to him, AKSUBEB also distributed 406,450 teaching and learning materials, including textbooks, curriculum guides, desks, chairs and other utility equipment.
The government is also adopting a whole-school intervention model under which selected schools will receive comprehensive upgrades covering security, water supply, sanitation, solar lighting and teachers’ accommodation.
Umoh said students with disabilities were being supported through special grants, with ₦32.9 million approved and released in 2023 and ₦67 million in 2024.
The government further disclosed that ₦1.6 billion had been released for bursary payments to students across various institutions, including the five campuses of the College of Nursing Sciences.
