The Abia State Government has revoked all approvals it previously granted to operators of private schools in the state and set new criteria for re-registering such schools.

The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ikechi Mgbeoji, who announced the revocation in Umuahia through a statement, said that the operators have been given six months to comply with the new registration guidelines which details would be issued by his office.

Mgbeoji explained that henceforth, private schools would be classified into three categories of A, B and C, depending on available infrastructure and quality of personnel in the school.

The commissioner also explained that on completion of the re-registration exercise, a school would be issued a unique identification number while every approval should be under the personal seal and signature of the Commissioner for Education.

Part of the new guidelines stipulate that “no school in the state shall share physical space or building with other businesses, including shops, markets, beer parlours and gambling joints” while “each school must, henceforth, be fenced out from commercial activities.”

However, schools may share physical space with a church or religious building but both cannot operate simultaneously during school hours, according to the guidelines which also provide that “on no account shall any school be located within twenty metres from a gambling house, beer palour, bawdy house or brothel.”

“Private schools have been given six months to comply with the new guidelines or face closure by a Special Taskforce. FromAugust 1, this year, no private school will operate without the new approval,” Mgbeoji warned.

•Photo showsAbia Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.