By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The Director General of the Benue State Education Quality Assurance Agency, BEQA, Dr. Terna Francis has warned that the parents of school-age children found hawking during school hours risk arrest and prosecution by the state government.

Dr. Francis who sounded the warning while featuring on an NTA Makurdi live programme monitored in Makurdi said the government was determined to tackle the out-of-school children challenge in the state headlong.

He noted that one of the core mandate of the newly created agency “is to promote the enrolment of school age children into schools because education is a right of every child as aptly captured in the Child’s Rights Act of Benue state 2008.

“So the sorry situation, even in parts of the Makurdi metropolis, where kids that should be in school are seen hawking all manner of wares, while their mates are studying in school will not be tolerated. The parents of such children risk arrest and prosecution for their action.”

He said the agency had also taken steps to reposition schools in the state with the current re-certification of schools in the state explaining that the process would help the agency produce a comprehensive database of schools, learners, and teachers, both in public and private schools below tertiary level.

The Director General who decried the exploitative fees being charged by schools for external examinations which he discovered during his routine monitoring of schools said he had issued stern warnings to schools in the habit of exploiting parents to desist or face sanctions.

He read out the approved fees for WAEC which he said was “N27,000 including a Ministry of Education and Knowledge Management approved handling charge of N5,000. NECO is N25,250, inclusive of NECO ancillary charges and a Ministry of Education and Knowledge Management approved handling charge of N5,000.”

He warned that “any school found charging above the stated amounts under the guise of examination fees will be treated as an inglorious malpractice ridden ‘miracle centre.”