From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
Benue State Education Quality Assurance Agency, BEQA, is to demolish illegal school structures across the State.
Director General, BEQA Dr. Francis Terna who said this on Thursday when members of the Correspondents’ Chapel paid him a courtesy visit, lamented at the high number of schools structures in the State.
He observed that most of the schools have structural defects and are also sited in unconducive environment.
According to him, ‘a primary school is supposed to be built over one kilometer apart, secondary school two(2) kilometers while for Universities, it is six kilometers. But unfortunately, these building descriptions are not followed and then you have a situation where people convert their three bedroom apartment into school.
Dr. Terna said the agency is at the moment collating data of such schools in the State, adding that they will collaborate with the Urban Development to pull them down.
“Right now, we are gathering data about such illegal school structures and equally embarking on sensitization. We are telling parents to withdraw their wards/ children from those schools by July because the bulldozer will bring such schools down”, he said.
The agency head decried the shortage and poor quality of teachers, intimating that they will soon embark on recruitment of teachers.
