By Magnus Emuji
The Delta State Government has approved the reopening of Ogume Grammar School, Ogume in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of the state.
The state Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education in a letter addressed to the community dated Monday, July 25, 2022, said that the school should resume for the first term of the 2022/2023 Academic Session scheduled to commence on Monday, September 12, 2022.
In the letter which was signed by the Director of Schools in the Ministry, Mrs Clementina Ojumah, on behalf of the Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs Rose Ezewu, the Ministry said it is satisfied with the efforts of the community leaders and the stakeholders of Ogume Community to ensure that the school was reopened.
The Ogume Grammar School was shut down by the State Government on October 14, 2021, following the violent activities in the school by some unscrupulous elements which led to the death of a female child.
The incident culminated in the burning down of classroom blocks and the destruction of other facilities in the school.
In a bid to bring sanity to the school and ensure the safety of the students, the state government ordered the closure of the school.
The state Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs Rose Ezewu had informed the representatives of Ogume Community during a meeting held in her office that the state government want the community to rebuild the damaged classroom blocks so as to serve as a deterrent to others.
Reacting to the letter of approval for the reopening of the school, the Chairman of Ogume Community Development Committee (CDC), David Agadi and Chief Alaska Ekele also from Ogume Community described the gesture by the state government to reopen the school as a welcome development and a step in the right direction just as they commended the State Government for the initiative.
Chief Alaska Ekele, who is the Publisher of Ndokwa Vanguard newspaper said that such an ugly incident would not occur again even as he stressed the need to always protect school facilities from being destroyed for the benefit of the community.
