Umuahia, Sept. 14, 2026 — The Abia State Government has stepped up monitoring of schools across the state following the commencement of the 2026/2027 academic session, with education officials assessing teacher attendance, student participation and the level of teaching and learning.
Officials of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education began the exercise in the Umuahia Education Zone on Monday, visiting public and private primary and secondary schools to ascertain compliance with the resumption directive.
The monitoring team, led by the Director of Quality Assurance, Basic, Dr Esther Mbuko, inspected teachers’ attendance registers, checked resumption times and conducted roll calls for teachers and learners.
At Afaraukwu Technical School, both junior and senior sections recorded strong student turnout, while teachers were present and teaching was ongoing across classrooms. At Ibeku High School, some classes were engaged in academic activities, while others participated in supervised environmental clean-up exercises.
Mbuko said the exercise was designed to ensure that teachers and students resumed fully and that academic activities commenced without delay.
“The essence is to make sure teachers are up and doing. This makes them engage students in effective teaching and learning,” she said.
She urged teachers to remain committed to their responsibilities and called on students who had yet to return to school to resume immediately.
Mbuko said the government remained committed to improving education standards in the state, adding that monitoring would continue across the three education zones — Aba, Umuahia and Arochukwu.
On concerns over teacher shortages, she disclosed that the government had recruited a second batch of teachers, whose deployment would help address identified gaps, particularly in subject areas.
