The Benue State Education Quality Assurance and Examinations Board (BEQAEB) has sealed two schools in Makurdi, Orenda and Opal schools, over alleged victimisation of learners and the alleged forcing of parents to buy exercise and test books directly from the schools.
The Executive Secretary of BEQAEB, Dr Terna Francis, led officials of the board’s Directorate of Enforcement and Compliance to seal the schools following complaints from parents.
Francis said the schools allegedly refused to attend to learners who had not bought the required books from them, despite the payment of school fees.
“We received several complaints from parents about the victimisation of their children in these schools. The schools insisted that learners and their parents must buy exercise books and test books from the schools before they would be attended to,” he said.
He said the practice violated the state government’s textbook reuse policy, which allows parents to reuse textbooks from older children or buy prescribed books from other sources.
Francis explained that BEQAEB had earlier contacted the proprietor by telephone and directed the school to stop the practice, but the complaints continued.
“We approached the school first through a phone conversation and asked the proprietor to desist from the victimisation, but they continued in the same manner,” he said.
According to him, BEQAEB later wrote officially to the school and invited the proprietor, management and Parent-Teacher Association chairman to a meeting to resolve the matter.
He said the proprietor failed to attend the scheduled meetings, despite BEQAEB’s efforts to reschedule the engagement.
Francis added that further complaints from parents indicated that the alleged victimisation had also affected learners’ schoolwork.
He alleged that some teachers had been instructed not to mark the homework of learners who had not bought the required books from the school, while some learners were prevented from bringing their books into the classroom.
“The children started feeling withdrawn and demoralised, and of course, this is against the child protection laws of Benue State and the Federation,” he said.
The BEQAEB boss explained that the state’s textbook reuse policy was intended to reduce the financial burden on parents and give them the freedom to obtain prescribed books from their preferred sources.
He said schools that had textbooks for sale could make them available to parents but should not force them to buy from the school.
He added that parents should also be allowed to obtain prescribed textbooks from bookshops or other sources rather than being compelled to purchase them from the school.
Following the continued complaints, Francis said BEQAEB, working with the state Attorney-General, approached a court, which granted an order authorising the sealing of the two schools.
He said the court order was served on the proprietor before officials of the Board locked the school premises.
Francis said the schools would remain sealed until their owners and administrators met the conditions set by the Board and demonstrated their willingness to operate in line with government policies and respect the rights of learners and parents.
He said the enforcement action was also intended to serve as a warning to other private schools in the state.
“We want to warn that if there is a breach in any school at all by any administrator or proprietor, we are going to clamp down on the school aggressively,” he said.
Francis urged parents who experienced similar cases of victimisation in other schools to submit petitions to the Board, together with evidence supporting their complaints.
