Benue clampdown on two schools over alleged learner victimisation, compulsory book sales

By Benedicta Aboh

The Benue State Education Quality Assurance and Examinations Board, BEQAEB, has sealed Orenda and Opal Schools in Makurdi over alleged victimisation of learners and violation of the state government’s policy on textbook reuse and purchase.

The Executive Secretary of BEQAEB, Dr. Terna Francis, who led officials of the Board’s Directorate of Enforcement and Compliance to the schools, said the action followed several complaints from parents alleging that their children were being victimised for failing to purchase exercise and test books directly from the schools.

A court order authorising the sealing of the schools was served on the proprietor before the Board officials locked the premises.

Francis said the enforcement action became necessary after repeated attempts by the Board to engage the school management and resolve the complaints failed.

He said: “We went out with the enforcement team of the Benue State Education Quality Assurance and Examinations Board to seal Orenda and Opal Schools here in Makurdi. This closure is as a result of the many complaints we received from parents regarding the victimisation of their learners in these schools.”

According to him, the schools allegedly insisted that learners and their parents must purchase exercise books and test books from the schools before they could be attended to, despite having paid their school fees.

“The schools have insisted that learners and their parents must buy exercise books and test books from their school, otherwise they will not be attended to, even after paying school fees.

“It is quite unfortunate because the Benue State Government, through the Ministry of Education and Knowledge Management, as well as the Benue State Education Quality Assurance and Examinations Board, have continually reminded school owners, proprietors and administrators that there is a textbook reuse policy in Benue State,” he said.

Francis explained that the Board initially contacted the proprietor by telephone and directed her to stop the alleged practice, but said the complaints persisted.

“We approached this particular school, first through a phone conversation, and we spoke with the proprietor and asked her to desist from that victimisation. They went on and continued in the same manner,” he said.

He said the Board subsequently wrote officially to the school and invited the proprietor, school management and Parent-Teacher Association, PTA, chairman to a meeting to resolve the matter.

Francis said the school representatives attended one of the meetings without the proprietor, while another scheduled meeting was allegedly not attended by the school management.

“They came without the proprietor, and we asked why the proprietor did not attend our meeting. We rescheduled and asked the school administrator and the principal to pick a convenient date, which they did. On that day, they failed to come, and there was no reason given,” he said.

The Executive Secretary said further complaints from parents indicated that the alleged victimisation had extended beyond the purchase of books.

“We continued to hear from the parents of these learners that the victimisation done to the learners went to the extent that when they submit their homework, the teachers were directed not to mark, and they were not being marked,” he alleged.

He added: “Their books were not allowed into the classroom, even after paying school fees. And so, the children started feeling withdrawn and demoralised, and of course, this is against the child protection laws of Benue State and the Federation.”

Francis stressed that the state’s textbook reuse policy was intended to reduce the financial burden on parents and give them freedom to source prescribed books from other outlets.

He said parents were allowed to transfer textbooks used by older children to younger siblings rather than being compelled to purchase new copies.

“If a particular school has textbooks for sale, it should not be made mandatory for parents to buy from the school. Parents are allowed the freedom to bring the textbooks of their older children and transmit them to the younger ones for use,” he said.

He added that schools should provide parents with the list of prescribed textbooks and allow them to decide where to purchase them.

“If the list of textbooks is available in a school, parents should be given a copy, and they should decide whether to buy it outside of the school in bookstores or to pick from the school. It is a matter of option and not a matter of necessity that parents must buy books from the school,” Francis stated.

He said the Board, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney-General of the State, approached a court of competent jurisdiction after the alleged violations persisted.

“The continual victimisation of these parents and the children led us to approach the Court of Competent Jurisdiction, where, together with the Attorney-General of the State, we instituted and presented the facts before the court on this matter, and the court graciously granted us an order to seal the schools,” he said.

On how long the schools would remain sealed, Francis said the closure would remain in force until the proprietor and administrators demonstrated their willingness to comply with the conditions set by the Board.

“The school will remain sealed indefinitely until we come to terms with the owner of the school and the administrators, and they are ready and willing, and until they demonstrate clearly before us through the conditions that we are going to put before them, and we are convinced that they are willing to operate the schools in a responsible manner, with respect for every learner and the parents that have enrolled their children in those schools,” he said.

Francis said the Board had not received similar petitions against other private schools but warned proprietors and administrators against violating government policies.

“Our learners are in school at the moment. We have staff of the Board that are out on monitoring exercise, and they are interacting with parents,” he said.

He urged parents who experience similar challenges in other schools to submit petitions to the Board with supporting evidence.

“We call on parents who have such challenges in other schools to launch their complaints. They should bring before us petitions with evidence of victimisation, and we’ll take it from there,” Francis said.

The Executive Secretary described the action against Orenda and Opal Schools as a deterrent to other proprietors, warning that the Board would take decisive action against schools found violating government regulations.

“This is a deterrent to other proprietors, and we want to warn that if there is a breach in any school at all by any administrator or proprietor, we are going to clamp down on the school aggressively,” he warned.