The Cross River State Ministry of Education has shut nine schools in Calabar Municipality for operating without the required Approval to Operate. The enforcement follows the reported closure of about 24 schools in Calabar South and forms part of the government’s stated effort to ensure that educational institutions meet regulatory and operational standards.
The Cross River State Government has extended its education-sector enforcement exercise to Calabar Municipality, where the Ministry of Education’s Quality Assurance Department shut nine schools reportedly operating without the required Approval to Operate (ATO). The action follows the closure of about 24 schools in Calabar South and is part of a wider exercise intended to bring educational institutions into compliance with state requirements. Commissioner for Education Senator Prof. Stephen Odey said the government would not compromise the standards required for schools to operate legally. The ministry’s stated objectives include protecting educational quality and ensuring that learners are taught in safe, conducive and suitable environments. The latest closures bring enforcement activity to another part of the state capital area, although the report does not give the total number of schools inspected across Cross River or the number found compliant. It also does not provide details about the inspection criteria applied to each institution, the duration of the closures or the process through which affected schools may demonstrate compliance. The action is described as regulatory enforcement rather than a general closure of schools in the municipality.
The nine schools identified in the enforcement account are VON Secondary School on Presbyterian Road, off 9 Miles; Faith Unity Nursery/Primary School on Old Adiabo Road, behind Every Home Custard, Ikot Ekpo; Ma’on Academy at 143 Old Odukpani Road, Ikot Omin, 8 Miles; and Great Care International Nursery/Primary School in Ikot Ekpo Layout, off M.M. Highway. The remaining institutions listed are Richfield International Schools (Secondary), at 2 Richfield Close, off Nassarawa, 8 Miles; Word of Faith Group of Schools (Secondary), at 21 Victory Way, Satellite Town; Child of Destiny, Nyok Esu, Big Qua Town; FINB-ALLEN School, at 7 Ikang Etta Avenue, off Akim Road; and Living Stars International Schools, at 16 Atimbo Road. The list identifies the institutions affected by the reported action, but the account does not provide individual inspection findings for each school. It would therefore be inaccurate to state that every school had identical deficiencies beyond the reported absence of the required ATO. The ministry has urged proprietors across the state to secure the necessary approval and maintain ongoing compliance with prescribed standards.
Odey said inspections were intended to identify schools operating outside the approved regulatory framework and compel proprietors to obtain the required approvals and meet the state’s prescribed standards. He warned proprietors whose institutions had been sealed against reopening without government authorisation, saying attempts to breach the directive would attract appropriate sanctions. The warning makes clear that the closures are intended to remain in force until the relevant government process permits reopening, rather than being a temporary instruction that proprietors may disregard. However, the account does not describe the complete administrative procedure for obtaining ATO, list required documents, specify applicable fees or state whether schools can appeal an enforcement decision. Nor does it confirm whether any of the nine institutions have already applied to regularise their operations. The commissioner said schools would be given an opportunity to regularise their status in line with established requirements. The stated approach therefore combines enforcement against unapproved operation with an avenue for proprietors to meet regulatory obligations, although the timeline and conditions for each school’s return to operation were not specified.
The ministry’s Quality Assurance Department is responsible for the reported inspection exercise, while the commissioner’s remarks place the work within a statewide regulatory effort. Odey said checks would continue across all 18 local government areas of Cross River. This indicates that the latest closures are not being presented as the final stage of the exercise. It remains unclear from the account how many additional inspections are planned, which local government areas will be visited next, or whether the ministry has published a schedule for future enforcement. The government has framed the inspections as a means of protecting learners and maintaining the integrity of education. Approval requirements can provide a regulatory mechanism for checking whether an institution has met applicable conditions, but the account does not disclose evidence of specific health, safety, staffing or curriculum deficiencies at the named schools. It is important to preserve that distinction: the stated reason for the closures is operation without the required Approval to Operate, not a detailed finding that each school was unsafe in a particular way. Further information from the ministry would be needed to understand the individual circumstances of each case.
The closures also raise practical questions for learners and families whose education may be affected when a school is sealed. The report does not state how many pupils attend the nine institutions, whether alternative placements have been arranged, how families were notified or whether the affected schools were operating nursery, primary or secondary classes beyond the designations included in their names. No student transfer scheme, temporary learning arrangement or deadline for compliance was announced in the account. Those omissions do not negate the ministry’s stated regulatory objective, but they leave the immediate educational arrangements for affected pupils unclear. The Cross River government publication reports that nine schools in Calabar Municipality were shut for lacking the required ATO, following about 24 closures in Calabar South. The commissioner has warned against unauthorised reopening and said the enforcement checks will continue across the state’s 18 local government areas. As of October 9, 2026, the established development is the closure of the nine named schools and the ministry’s stated intention to pursue further regulatory compliance; the reopening status of individual schools remains unreported.