Methodist Church Tasks Enugu Govt. On Handover Of Schools Before May 29

The Methodist Church has called on the Enugu State Government to handover public schools in the state to their original owners before May 29.

Archbishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Christopher Ede, made the call at the commencement of the 40th anniversary of the church in Enugu on Friday.

According to him, the state government had in 2009 commenced the process of returning such schools to missionaries but had not completed it. He said that 59 public schools made up of three secondary schools and 56 primary schools have so far been returned to the Methodist Church.

“But the policy was such that the government is still holding part of the administration of these schools, including staff salaries and the control of payment of fees.

“Due to the free education policy of the state government, we collect not more than N2,000 per student as fees,” he said.

Ede said that the partial handover of the schools had a time-lag within which the churches would take full control.

He therefore appealed to Gov. Sullivan Chime to ensure that the processes of full handover of the schools were completed before he leaves office on May 29.

He urged the state government to show more transparency in handling the process, noting that schools handed over to the Catholic Church were already gazetted.

“We, therefore, want government to gazette the schools belonging to the Anglican and Methodist Churches in the state,” he said.