Nigeria: Kaduna to regulate operations of private schools

The Kaduna State Government says it will sanitise the operations of the private schools operating in the state, to ensure delivery of quality education to students.

The state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Shehu Adamu, stated this while briefing newsmen in Kaduna on Monday.

«We have just concluded a survey of all private schools in the state and what we discovered is that quite a number of them are not operating within the minimum standard.

«Some of the schools are operating in areas where a school is not supposed to operate; some are operating in rented apartments and others in just a single room.

«This is not acceptable. We are going to take strict measures on all private schools operating below minimum standard, » Adamu said.

While admitting that private schools are part of the programme of any education sector, Adamu, however, said that the schools must comply to set standard.

The commissioned warned that any school that failed to meet the government’s minimum standard would be shut down.

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He said that the ministry would assign its officials in schools to monitor WAEC and NECO examinations, to checking against examination malpractice.

He said the monitoring would «particularly be on schools suspected to be operating as miracle centres.

«Our findings revealed that some private schools may have only 20 students in SS III, but will end up registering over 300 students for WAEC or NECO.

«Such schools could be operating as miracle centres, where the students pay huge amount of money for answers to be written on the black boards for them to copy during examinations.

«We will keep an eye on them and ensure that all schools and students write WAEC and NECO examinations with strict compliance to laid down rules and regulations.

«I assure you that in the next one or two years, miracle centres will fold up in Kaduna state, » the commissioner said.