Benue State Commissioner of Education, Prof Dennis Ityavyaar, has announced the closure of over 2,424 illegal schools in the state for failure to meet minimum standard.

The commissioner, who spoke at a press conference yesterday in Government House, Makurdi gave a breakdown of the schools to include; 1,925 nursery/primary schools, 435 secondary schools and 14 tertiary institutions.

He explained that the affected schools failed certification by the Ministry of Education in meeting phase 2 approval, lamenting that illegal schools have constituted a big set back to the educational sector of the state in the production of half-baked graduates.

“These illegal schools have been responsible for the poor performance of our students in both internal and external examinations. The state ranked 14th in the last WAEC. This is not good. We should rank first because education is the only industry in the state and the Governor is so

passionate about improving the educational sector,” Prof. Itavyaar said.

He expressed worry at the decay in norms and values by the youths which he attributed to poor education, maintaining that the closure of the schools is a deliberate step to revamping the educational sector of the state.

“This section is not intended to witch-hunt anybody. It is for our collective good. Those who

think they are above the law, it is no longer business as usual. An enforcement committee has

been set up in all the 23 local government areas to ensure compliance.

“We have involved all the security agencies including the Police, Department of State Security, area education officers. Any attempt by anyone to reopen the schools, such person will go to jail. However, owners of the closed schools can come to us and if they meet the minimum standard, they will be reopened,” he stressed. (Nigerian Pilot)