By Dayo Johnson

Akure—THE Ondo State government, yesterday, denied plans to increase the tuition fees of tertiary institutions in the state or plan to abolish free education in the state.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Yemi Olowolabi, who explained that the state has not taken any decision on the outcome of the recently- concluded education summit in the state.

According to Olowolabi, the summit was organised to address and reposition the education sector in Ondo State to make it more functional.

He, however, said that the communiqué issued at the end of the summit should not be seen as the position of the state government, noting: “The communiqué from the summit is not yet the position of government or government policy.”

He added that the communiqué has been wrongly interpreted as the position of the government and “the flurry of criticism and commendations that greeted the release of the communiqué are hasty and premature.”

Olowolabi said in the statement that “the communiqué from the summit is as a result of the summary of the views of all the stakeholders in the education sector in the state.

He said the state Commissioner for Education who is in charge of the ministry is expected to present the Communiqué to State Executive Council (SEC), where every point in it will be thoroughly discussed and debated before the state takes a position.

“The state government wishes to state that it has not abolished free education in Ondo State and we urge the people of the state to remain calm until the SEC appraises all the points raised in the communiqué,” Olowolabi said.