The administration of Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah has initiated the Enugu Smart Green School Program project to improve the education system from the grassroots in Enugu state.
However, one of the smart green schools was reported to be attacked during the holiday,
But it seems not to have been vandalized. In this interview, Dr. Chinyere Onyeisi, special adviser to the governor on education/director of experiential learning, Enugu Smart School. revealed and shared more insights on what really happened in the Smart Green School in Isiakpu, Nsukka, and the remote cause of the vandalism.
Afiatv reported that a recently constructed smart school has unfortunately found itself in the unfortunate predicament of being vandalized, and the extensive damage to Central Primary School, Isiakpu, is not just a matter of destruction; it raises a crucial question of who truly holds the ownership of public assets.
Was it vandalized or abandoned? We will find out in these interviews.
According to Dr. Chinyere, the school resumed on the 12th of January 2026, and then teaching and learning activities are ongoing in full. She said, “When I talk about teaching and learning activities, it is not just in smart schools. It’s also encompassed by the conventional schools because they are the same.
As the smart schools are getting ready, the old schools are also getting prepared to move effectively. currently the program is ongoing, and then the normal academic activities have been in progress. “
DR ONYEISI said, “the smart green school initiative is indeed an amazing opportunity for the children, and then you need to see how children are excited to come into an environment where the student is coming to school with intention to see blackboard, and then they came into a class and saw an interactive board that is more like a television which draw the attention of the learner.
It makes them feel so excited because it makes teaching and learning more fun.
They are no longer seeing education as those tasking activities, because they feel so excited to participate in a smart classroom.”
She maintains that ”currently we have about 15 schools that are operational now, and smart school enrollment passes through a lot of processes, and what we have is basic education that comprises both nurses’ primary and junior secondary schools.
We have about 502 students registered in primary school across Enugu East, we have about 321 under nursery and primary school, and 241 under secondary schools, that’s 562 altogether.
Under the Enugu East local government, we have about 180 students registered so far, and registration is still ongoing. As we progress, we are going to have a different update on it.”
This is supposed to be ward by ward; we have pupils coming within that ward. It’s basically people who are living within that ward. Dr. Onyeisi said.
Dr. Chinyere said, “Anybody from Ebonyi state, who is living in Enugu for a long time or who has been living within the school premises is a bona fide member of the school, because some of them are already in the old schools before the smart school. We open the door to students who are living in Enugu.”
She adds that they are very careful about the program, until they confirm all the local governments, and they want to make sure and have absorbed people that are supposed to be there, before opening the door wider to other people.
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“About 15 schools have been fully operational, and teaching and learning are ongoing. The smart school program is not just a cup of tea that you wake up and open class, and then there are so many activities that we started from the teachers to ensure that teachers are ready, and they understand this smart school program.”
“We are currently undergoing campus boot camp and moving to new schools. The smart school just completed the boot camp at GTC, and when the school is fully onboard, we give them a school uniform.
After giving them new school uniforms, we now come in for the camp boot camp, and the boot camp comprises all the activities of the smart schools.
This is not just about academic activities; it ranges from character modification, the assembly drill, participating in the assembly, their cleanliness, habits, personal hygiene, the technology usage, and so many things are encompassed in this boot camp, and it’s entertaining.”
She emphasized that the foundation level of the pupils was very poor before now. “We understand the challenges from the lessons we learned from the pilot school. We are now taking it easy and gradually with the children.
We started from the foundation, from the A B C D again, letter sounds, and that’s the formation of words, two-letter words, three-letter words.”
She maintains that we then focused on key areas, such as literacy, numeracy, and letter writing, and taught the children how to write. It was discovered that most of our foundation class cannot write effectively.
And this is basically what affects our children when they graduate, because when they don’t write well, they don’t know two-letter words and three-letter words. Before they graduate, they will be looking for a special center to write their Waec, and come up with a fantastic result, but they cannot defend those results.
Dr. ONYEISI highlights that “We are starting from the foundation to make sure that we clean up those challenges, because it’s a gradual process, and I wouldn’t give you a track record now, it’s a step-by-step procedure, and so far, we’re seeing improvement in the children.”
What happened to Smart Green School while the pupils were on holiday?
Chinyere expressed that the schools were not abandoned, and it was not just vandalism in terms of theft. It is actually a misunderstanding between the contractors.
The formal person who was assigned to do the work couldn’t conclude the work within a stipulated time, and another contractor came in to finish the job, because they were given targets, and there was no time, and the children had to enter class immediately and continue their activities.
“To protest, the person who was shortchanged came in, because this is information, I got from the local government chairman. who confirmed that it is not a case of vandalism as regards theft.
because they removed all those things and kept it on the floor. If it is theft, they could have made away with those things.”
is a case of a worker who has been assigned to do this particular job, but couldn’t meet the requirements, so it’s not an abandoned or vandalized case as regards theft, because if it is theft, those things they removed wouldn’t be there; they would have made away with it. She said
“I got information from the local government chairman, and I was interested in swift action to put a stop to whatever the problem might be.”
However, the removal of switches, damage to the roof, breaking the ceiling, and glass was a kind of protest that someone else had taken my job, and I had to finish up. But the chairman actually is on top of the case, and the person involved has been arrested.
What’s the broader picture of security?
Dr. emphasized that the local government must have beefed up the security very well. The bone of contention is that this thing happens during the holiday period, and then the chairman said he has taken up and created a sensitization program to make sure that this kind of thing will not happen again.
Moreover, the security has been strengthened. And more security has mounted at that particular location.
According to the security on duty, he stepped out for a short period to buy what he would eat, before coming back, and this kind of incident happened.
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She revealed that the chairman has created the sensitization program to ensure that local security, the vigilantes, and state security play their roles.
It’s not just one section of security that is supposed to be there; these activities are to ensure that everyone understands the project and plays their roles adequately.
Dr. Chinyere maintains that the security engagement was not just peculiar to one place. currently the local government has taken it up as a project, and then they are now going to school by school, community by community, to engage people living within that community.
The community has its own security fully function and then the state government also have their own security fully working together in order to make sure that everything is fully secured.
“Let ENUGU people know that this project is a generational investment for our future generation.
Our children are the people who are benefiting from this project; it’s a wakeup call to everybody, irrespective of who you are, where you are, they all should understand this project and come up with a team to actualize this dream.”
DR. said the progress of Enugu State Smart Green School is amazing, because reflecting on what has happened in the pilot school, where we completed activities for the complete academic section.
The parents are seeing significant improvement in the children in terms of behavior, academic development, and skill development.
” Some children are now physical wiring lights when they get home. Some are already constructing an electrical socket that they can use to charge their phones within the local community.”
The children are already developing many skills that are helping them, and because we cannot record as much in the new schools, this reflection is based on the pilot schools we’ve seen.
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The parents are really excited to see the children’s improvement, and I’m very sure that when society sees this improvement, they will all understand what a smart school entails.
Who is ultimately in charge of the smart green school infrastructure?
The director of experiential learning, Enugu Smart School, said, “The smart green school has different boards that are responsible for different things, and each board have their mandates to follow up and ensure that effective implementation is done in its various areas. “
Who is expected to oversee maintenance?
According to the director, “In terms of maintenance, the ENSUBEB is in charge of maintenance, and they are trying to localize the maintenance team, whereby every school has a maintenance unit.
Currently, they are recruiting people who specialize in different areas like gardening, carpentry, and plumbing, who will be on the spot to ensure that things are done properly.”
What’s the extent of the power of the local government and ENSUBEB
Dr. Onyeisi said,” The local government took up the responsibility because this happens in their own local government. And Nsub also followed up by taking their own responsibility to ensure that the right securities are mounted at different smart schools, and also following up to ensure that they are doing their jobs.”
The special adviser to the governor on education concluded and stated, “I wouldn’t say that not much has been done by the board, the local government, and ENSUBEB have been doing their best. But the bone of contention is that all hands are on deck to ensure that the security is guaranteed.”