The Abia State Government has shut down no fewer than 197 substandard private schools as part of its efforts to reform the education sector in the state.

The Abia State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, said this while addressing journalists on the outcome of Monday’s state executive council meeting at the Government House in Umuahia, the state capital.

Kanu said about 900 private schools in the state had so far been inspected in the ongoing inspection of private schools.

He stated that the exercise followed the government’s resolve to improve the standard of education in the state.

The commissioner, while speaking on the government’s plan to fix internal roads in the major cities of the state, said the Ministry of Works had been directed to undertake the task.

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Also speaking, the Abia State Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, said over 8,000 people had received free medicare under the ongoing free medical services offered by the state government.

Okoronkwo noted that the government had begun to retrofit the Cottage Hospital in Aba, in a bid to enhance its capacity, adding that it would soon be reopened to the public.

On his part, the Abia State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Uzo Nwachukwu, said the government had appointed Transition Committee Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen and Councillors for the 17 Local Government Councils.

Nwachukwu stated that individuals with the capacity to deliver the rebuilding agenda of the present administration were selected to do the job.

He said the transition committee members were entitled to a statutory six-month tenure, adding that by reviewing the law, their tenure could be extended.

The Star