By Dan Opara
Public and private schools across Imo State of Nigeria, officially resumed academic activities last Monday, September 8, 2025, for the 2025–2026 session, as Governor Senator Hope Uzodimma, issued firm directives to teachers, school administrators, and students to maintain discipline and support the growth of the state’s educational sector.
Under the Shared Prosperity Administration, Governor Uzodimma prohibited all school managements from demanding that pupils and students provide items such as shovels, hoes, cutlasses, rakes, brooms, mopping sticks, buckets, hypo, detergents, bottles of Dettol, soap of any kind, toilet paper, A4 paper, or pay unauthorized levies before admission or participation in examinations across the state’s twenty seven local government areas.
The state government has also abolished the practice of printing and selling textbooks with embedded workbooks.
This policy aims to make textbooks reusable for younger siblings and to reduce unnecessary financial burdens on parents.
From a statement issued over the weekend, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Professor Bernard Ikegwuoha, emphasized that requiring parents to bring items or pay unauthorized levies for admission is a serious concern that must cease immediately.
To ensure strict compliance, the government introduced a dedicated phone line, 0707 659 3298, for parents, guardians, and stakeholders to report schools that violate government-approved policies.
The statement further directed that all textbooks already purchased by students remain in use until August 2026, after which a new list of approved textbooks will be introduced and remain valid until August 2030.
Regarding textbooks with built-in workbooks, the commissioner stated that the Ministry has abolished the practice and mandated that workbooks be printed.
