Parents will bring children to public schools when we are done — Benue Quality Assurance DG boasts
By Titus Atondu, Makurdi
The Director General of Benue State Education Quality Assurance Agency, Dr Terna Francis has boasted that the Agency, under his watch and in line with the vision of the Governor of Benue State Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia for the state education system to work, would embark on total overhauling of the basic education system of the state to the required standard obtainable anywhere in the country.
Dr. Terna also stated that by changing the narrative of the state basic education system, parents would volunteer to withdraw their children and wards from private schools to public schools haven seen the revived status of public schools under Governor Alias administration.
He also explained that a lot of abnormalities have been discovered in the basic state education system and decided to abolish some of the tendencies that portrayed the state education system in bad light such as the collection of goats and yams from school Principals by inspection officers of the Agency to avoid standard compromise.
The Director General made the disclosure on Thursday while fielding questions from journalists at the Agency’s headquarters in Makurdi .
Dr Terna explained that the mandatory N100,000 inspection fee to be paid by any visiting school covers the transportation and other logistics for the inspection officers on duty.
“What I met on assumption of duty is that, after a school paid the mandatory N100,000 fee, school heads donate goats, 100 tubers of yams and certain monies for visiting inspection officers,” the Director General revealed.
He explained that once such incentives are provided to inspection officers, they turn to compromise in the course of duty.
He said, “I recall that, in the past out of 683 schools, 438 were sanctioned by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in Benue State, in which case it is the reverse now.”
Dr Terna also explained that the Common Entrance Examination in the state was also a corrupt policy for extorting money from candidates with no record of proceeds or results released to them and has been abolished.
He further revealed that about 900 schools he has visited in the state within his short time in office, he discovered ghost schools and teachers, while some teachers who are supposed to be at their duty post in Vandeikya or Gbajimba are in Makurdi and elsewhere in Abuja, collecting salaries at the State’s expense without justification.
The Director General also announced the proposed Teacher’s Loan Scheme to be launched soon by the Governor with very minimal interest for five years repayment as the case may be, with the aim of assisting teachers in training their children in schools within and abroad.
“Gone are those days when teachers said they didn’t have money to train their children abroad. The Governor of Benue state Hyacinth Alia will make it practically possible for teachers in the state,” he maintained.
He applauded Governor Hyacinth Alia for the payment of WAEC, NECO and NBTE for students in the state government schools and sued for more support from all and sundry to enable him to salvage the state in all sectors.
