By EMMANUEL ANTSWEN

The Benue Government has banned graduation parties for kindergarten, nursery, and primary schools in the state.

The acting Commissioner, Ministry of Education and Knowledge Management, Mrs Helen Nambativ, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Makurdi that defaulting schools would be sanctioned.

Nambativ said schools might be closed temporarily for failure to implement the new education policy that prohibited such parties.

The acting commissioner, therefore, said that the government was putting all the needed mechanisms in place to enforce the new policy.

She said the new policy, which was with immediate effect, was not only people-oriented, but would also sanitise the education sector at the basic levels.

Nambativ, who is also the permanent secretary of the ministry, said schools that failed to implement the policy in the 2025/2026 academic session might not be allowed to operate.

She also disclosed that the government would constitute a task force for enforcement.

NAN reports that the government had in a memo on Aug. 21, announced the ban on graduation parties for kindergarten, nursery and basic schools in the state.

According to the memo, cited by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the decision will reduce the financial burden on parents and redirect attention to the academic development of children.

“The unpopular use of restricted, customised education materials, such as text/exercise books in Benue State schools, making them non-transferrable to subsequent learners, is hereby abolished.

“All schools are by this notice directed to revert automatically to the traditional practice of senior students/pupils using and passing books down to pupils and students in lower classes.

“Compulsory and extended lessons after regular school hours cease, except where parental rights are sought and granted.

“All compulsory school graduation ceremonies in Benue State are hereby abolished, especially for kindergarten, nursery and basic schools,” the government said in the memo.

However, a major school proprietor in Makurdi, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that the timing of the policy was wrong.

He said that the government needed to consult relevant stakeholders in the education sector on the new policy and how it could be implemented before the announcement.

He said most schools had already procured the banned books and, therefore, should be given a one-year grace period.

Also speaking to NAN, Mr James Bemgba, a parent, commended the government for taking the huge burden off parents’ shoulders.

According to Bemgba, most schools force parents to pay for the graduation of kids who are less than three years old and also buy books unnecessarily. Amongst other things. (NAN)