Benue: Parents of school-age street peddlers risk arrest – BEQA DG

From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi

The Director General, Benue State Education Quality Assurance Agency, (BEQA), Dr Terna Francis, has read a riot act warning that parents of hawking and wandering school age children sighted during school days and hours risk possible arrests and prosecution.

The BEQA DG stated this while responding to questions during a programme in Makurdi on the status of the enrolment drive for out of school children.

The DG, who noted that education is a right as aptly captured in the Child’s Rights Act of Benue state 2008, said promoting the enrolment of school age kids into schools is a core mandate of the newly created agency.

He decried the sorry situation in some parts of Makurdi metropolis, where kids that should be in school are seen hawking all manner of wares while their mates study saying such will no longer be condoned.

The DG also stated that his routine monitoring exercise of schools exposed some irregularities over the requisite fees to be paid for external examination bodies such as WAEC, NECO, and NABTEB.

Disclosing the approved fees, the DG said the charges include N27,000 for WAEC as well as a Ministry of Education and Knowledge Management approved handling charge of N5000 and for NECO, N25,250 (inclusive of NECO ancillary charges) and a Ministry of Education and Knowledge Management approved handling charge of N5000.

The DG warned that any school found charging above the stated amounts under the guise of examination fees will be treated as an inglorious malpractice ridden “miracle centre”.

The DG further announced that the agency was currently re-certifying schools in the state to produce a comprehensive database of schools, learners and their teachers, both in public and private schools below tertiary level.