Renovation: FG extends Suleja Academy resumption by 10 days

The Federal Ministry of Education has extended the resumption of activities of the Federal Government Academy in Suleja by 10 days.

This was announced by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, during the guided tour of the ministry officials at the school in Suleja, on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Minister, together with the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, took turns to inspect some facilities of the school which are undergoing renovation.

Facilities include student accommodation, toilets, a school health clinic, laboratories and a skills and retraining centre.

The minister said the visit was necessary to check the progress of renovation works on some school buildings.

He said the extension was needed to give workers more time to complete their work, while creating a supportive environment for students.

“This is the only school of its kind in the country, namely the National School for the Gifted, where we are supposed to gather students who demonstrate special aptitudes and abilities.

“For us, we need to showcase the school and to do that, we need to make sure that the necessary infrastructure is in place and that the academic environment is suitable for that purpose.

“This school was born with old structures and maintenance is a problem. What we have seen does not meet our expectations of what a school should be.

“They have reached a certain milestone, and that is not the destination we should be aiming for, so we are here to inspect the school,” he said.

Mamman, while lamenting the deterioration of the school’s infrastructure, promised the Ministry’s support in providing massive aid to uplift and bring the school to the standard it should have.

School inspection by the minister.

He commended the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) and alumni for their active engagement in the community, in mobilizing others to improve some of the facilities at the school.

Asked whether the age limit issue would impact students based on their educational abilities and talent, Mamman said the 18-year rule would not affect them.

“The underage criteria may not apply to gifted students, since we are already developing a criterion to guide what will be called gifted children,” he explained.

NAN also announces that the school, which was scheduled to reopen for the 2024/25 academic year on Sunday 8 September, will instead reopen on 18 September.

The school, founded in 1990 by former head of state Ibrahim Babangida, is entirely funded by the federal government and is intended for gifted students.

Students at this school pay only the PTA fee, while tuition fees are paid entirely by the federal government.