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The Plateau State government has deregistered all private schools operating in the State saying unscrupulous activities of some of the schools are impacting negatively on education in the State.
The government asked that those with proper certification should approach the relevant office to get approval for operation ahead of the September resumption of schools for the 2022/2023 academic session.
The State Commissioner for Secondary Education, Elizabeth Wapmuk who made the government’s position known at a press conference in Jos warned parents against registering their ward(s) in illegal schools saying they would not be allowed to sit for all approved federal and State governments’ examinations.
According to her, “This is to inform the general public that the operating licenses of all operating private nursery, pre-primary, primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools in Plateau state are hereby deregistered with effect from 28th July, 2022.
“The order means that all private schools in the state will have to revalidate their certification. This is as the result of the following: The quality assurance mandate requires all private schools to renew their operating license after every five years but unfortunately, private schools’ licenses in Plateau state have not been renewed for so many decades.
“Dependable records reveal that there are over 5,000 private schools operating without licenses in Plateau state. 85% of 485 private schools granted licenses have compromised their standards. 90% of the private schools do not adhere to Government policies and mandates.
“Many of the private schools use secondary school graduates to teach instead of the minimum Nigeria Certificate in Education, NCE or Degree certificates that should be duly registered with Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN.”
She added, “Reliable reports showed that some of the private schools have concealed their premises to avoid routine inspection serving as hideout for criminal activities. The proliferation of unregistered/illegal private schools in the State has robbed the State of the potential impact on education.
“Consequently, the Ministry of Education has resolved to fast-tract the revalidation process as follow: All private schools that initially have license(s) will submit to the Ministry of Education while new ones will be issued after certifying the reviewed Federal and Plateau State Quality Assurance Procedures for establishing private schools.
“Revalidation committees have been put in place to revalidate all private schools in the State. In this regard, all private schools should proceed to their respective Zonal offices of Education closest to them with all relevant documents to revalidate their schools with effect from Monday, 8th august, 2022.
“Only schools that certify the revalidation exercise will be allowed to resume next academic session, 2022/2023 in September, 2022. List of schools that are cleared would be published in national dailies.
“Parents should note that if they send their ward(s) to schools that are not duly certified, they run the risk of being barred from participating in any federal or State examinations, including the First School Leaving Certificate examinations, Basic Education Certificates Examinations, Senior School Certificate Examinations.
“The exercise is to check the proliferation of illegal private schools and to support those that operate within the ambits of the law with the aim of achieving quality education for all.”
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