The Anambra State government has announced the immediate closure of Blessed Wisdom Model School at Ide Drive, Federal Housing Estate, Onitsha, over the flogging of a two-year-old pupil.
Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, the state Commissioner for Education, made the announcement on Saturday, following a report that a two-year-old pupil, Ifechukwu Egbuninwe, sustained grievous bodily harm, following the flogging incident.
Chuma-Udeh said: “According to the report, the victim broke her arm and sustained injuries on her tongue under circumstance yet to be explained.
“The report also stated that the proprietress of the school never reached out to the parents of the pupil to inform them of her injuries and no first aid treatment was administered on her when she sustained the said injury.
“The proprietress failed to reach out at any point to the family of the pupil to ascertain her welfare. They just carried on with their school business as if the life of the pupil meant nothing.”
The Commissioner condemned the attitude of the management of Blessed Wisdom Model School to human life and the act of disobedience by the proprietress who did not honour her invitation.
“Every child belongs to the state, we cannot condone neglect to human life. This is why, on Friday, we invited the proprietress to come and explain what happened.
“The child, her parents and their lawyer were present but the Proprietress blatantly refused to appear. This failure to appear led to the decision to close down the school.
“Officers of the Anambra State Joint Enforcement Team were directed to ensure strict compliance with the closure order. The school remains closed until Mr Governor directs otherwise,” she said.
Meanwhile, Chuma-Udeh has set up a seven-man committee to investigate the matter while advising the proprietress to endeavour to appear before the Committee.
According to her, failure to appear before the committee would attract arrest and prosecution.