Benue govt shuts school over poor standard

The Benue State Government has sealed a school, Benedictine Order of Peace and Unity Academy Foundation Nyiman, in Makurdi, the state capital, over failure to meet an approved standard.

The Director General of the Bureau for Education Quality Assurance (BEQA), Dr Terna Francis, made this known in Makurdi on Monday, September 30, 2024.

Francis said the school was operating in an uncompleted hotel building.

Francis stated that from the structure, the school had no curriculum, lesson plan, scheme of work, qualified teachers, and was operating three different schools within the uncompleted building.

The BEQA boss added that Benedictine Order Academy was not registered and the government did not approve its existence.

He stressed that the government would not allow any substandard school to exist in Benue State for the safety of the children and quality education.

According to him, BEQA has identified 2,416 illegal schools in the state and has already issued all the necessary notices to the proprietors to either meet the required standard or shut down.

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Francis said: “The risk involved in keeping children in such buildings cannot be overemphasised.

“As government, as a regulatory body, we cannot allow anything harmful or evil to happen to these children of ours.

“That is why I’m here with the management of BEQA in collaboration with the GM Urban Development Board to seal the school.

“So going forward, this school no longer exists as a school. We are activating and invoking our powers to close down any school that does not meet the educational standard in the state.

“But for the purpose of these children who are already in school, we are going to allow them to stay till the close of school today.”

Francis enjoined parents to withdraw their children from the school that has neither uniforms nor records and take them to government-approved institutions of learning in Benue State.

Also speaking, the General Manager of the Benue State Urban Development Board, Ternongo Mede, said the uncompleted three-story building was not habitable for a learning environment.

Mede said every building must pass a fitness test for the desired purpose and urged the government to seal the school.

However, the founder of the school, Rev. Fr. Elias Torugh, said they were working hard to meet the state educational requirements for operating a school.

Torugh said they were in the story building for only two weeks following their eviction at the Staff Development Centre by the Benue State Government.

The founder stated they were fully aware that the school does not have a conducive learning environment, but they planned to stay at the uncompleted hotel building for only this term.

He added that they were members of the Catholic Church, saying the school was owned by the Benedictine Order, which he said was not associated with any Catholic Diocese in Nigeria.

“We ourselves know that this place is not conducive enough for learning. Our stay here is not permanent,” Torugh said.

Torugh added that the school, which has a nursery, primary, and secondary school, has a population of 942.

The Star