The Benue State Government has closed down 2, 219 secondary schools over poor standards.
The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dannis Ityavyar, made this disclosure on Tuesday in Makurdi, the state capital while fielding questions from members of the House of Assembly, who sought explanations over the dwindling standard of education.
Ityavyar also added that 19 tertiary institutions were closed down for the same reason.
He said that the state government was working towards improving the quality of education, declaring that mushroom schools would not be allowed to operate.
“The only powers we have are limited to quality control; the owners of schools insist that we cannot dictate fees to them and there isn’t much that we can do,” he said.
He confirmed that some schools were charging N30,000 to register their students for West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) senior secondary schools examination as against the N13,500 charged by the examination body.
“It is a difficult situation because the parents are willing to pay. In the ministry, we are helpless,” he said.
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