September 30, (THEWILL) – The Benue State Government, on Monday, sealed off the Benedictine Order Academy Schools, located in the Nyiman area in Makurdi, the State Capital, over failure to meet the approved standard.
This is just as the proprietor of the schools, Rev Fr Elias Torugh, has expressed reservations over the Government’s action.
The Director General, Bureau for Education Quality Assurance (BEQA), Dr Terna Francis, while sealing the school on Monday, said it was operating in an uncompleted hotel building.
Dr Francis said the school has no curriculum, lesson plan, scheme of work, or qualified teachers and was operating three different schools within the uncompleted building.
According to him, the Benedictine Order Academy, Nyiman, was not a registered school and the Benue State Government does not approve its existence.
“Benue State Government would not allow any sub-standard school to exist for the safety of the children and quality education”, he emphasised.
The Director General further disclosed that 2,416 illegal schools have been identified in the State and have already issued all the necessary notices to the proprietors to either meet the required standard or shut down.
In his remarks, the General Manager, Benue State Urban Development Board, Town Planner Ternongo Mede, said the uncompleted three-storey building housing the schools was not habitable for a learning environment.
While saying every building must pass a fitness test for the desired purposes, Mede, therefore, urged the Government to seal the school for lacking in structural quality.
Reacting to the development, the Founder, Rev Fr Elias Torugh, said they were working hard to meet the State educational requirements for operating a school.
Fr Torugh said they were in the story building for only two weeks following their eviction at the Benue State Staff Development Centre, Makurdi, by the State Government.
“We were fully aware that the school does not have a conducive learning environment, but they planned to stay at the uncompleted hotel building for only this term.”
He claimed that they were members of the Catholic Church and the school was owned by the Benedictine Order which he said were not associated with any Catholic Diocese in the Country.
According to him, the school which has nursery, primary and secondary schools has a population of 924 at the moment.
