The Benue State Bureau for Education Quality Assurance, BEQA, in collaboration with the Benue State Urban Development Board, BSUDB, has said it would commence the demolition of substandard schools in the state.
The exercise would commence at the end of the 2023–2024 academic session across the state.
This was disclosed on Tuesday in Makurdi by the Director General of BEQA, Dr Terna Francis.
He said the move underscored BEQA’s commitment to restoring excellence in the state education sector.
Dr Francis decried the rot in the sector, assuring that the Governor Hyacinth Alia-led administration is committed to transforming the sector and making it the envy of other states.
He said BEQA had already taken steps to ensure sanity in the education sector in the state.
“Our office is tasked with the responsibility of closing schools that fail to meet establishment guidelines, education laws, as well as the national policy on education,” he emphasised.
He further said that at the end of this term, BEQA would publish a list of all substandard schools operating in the state that would be affected by the exercise.
He advised parents to withdraw their children and wards from such schools for quality-assured ones, saying, “we will not only seal schools but also demolish structures that threaten learners’ safety.”
He advised anyone seeking to establish a school in the state to first visit the Urban Development Board to obtain all the necessary permits before undertaking the venture.
“It is no longer business as usual because the Bureau will effectively monitor to the letter each step in the process of school establishment in any part of the state,” he said.
In a remark, the General Manager of BSUDB, Ternongo Mede, said: “Education in the state has become a business for many people, but we are prepared to synergise with BEQA to commence this exercise of demolishing illegal school structures immediately.”