The Federal Ministry of Education has embarked on nationwide schools monitoring and evaluation to stamp out institutions operating as ‘miracle centres’.
At the ministry’s on-the-spot assessment of Redeemer Teap International School (RTIS) in Abuja on Tuesday, the Team Lead, Rukayat Ibrahim, said the visit was aimed at putting schools on the right track.
Recall that the Ministry of Education in 2007 embarked on schools assessment to identify schools found culpable of malpractices.
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The assessment gave rise to the backlisting of some schools and eradicating miracle centres, which made 2008 to 2010 the most ethics-friendly exam years in Nigeria.
Ibrahim, also a Deputy Director in the Federal Education Quality Assurance Service (FEQAS) of the ministry, explained the ministry’s resolve to stamp out most of the miracle centers across the country.
” This activity is a nationwide assessment and taking place simultaneously in all the states and FCT.
” In the past we use to have two to three days to monitor but we call this on-the-spot assessment. We go to schools and within three hours we are done.
” This is to enable us cover more schools and bring out reports that the management at the .Ministry can quickly read and know what is happening in the schools,” she said.
Ibrahim added that the visit, a termly assessment, is aimed to actually make schools below tertiary level outstanding and effective for learning.
Also, Mr Yinka Amodu, also from the FEQAS department of the ministry, stressed the need to strengthen the evaluation to put schools on their toes.
Amodu maintained that the Ministry does not limit the exercise to private schools but all encompassing public schools, creche, and Early childhood Education.
‘We are doing this today to help the schools, the learners the parents and also help the country.
“In 2007, we were able to discover some ‘kangaroo schools’ that are not registered.They don’t have qualified or professional teachers.
“Even if you see some of the buildings they use, they are dilapidated.
“So it was because of this kind of evaluation that we embarked on then that we were able to identify the schools.
“If there is no check and balances, the educational system in this country will not grow. And we cannot continue doing the same thing, and we expect to achieve a different result,” he said.
The School’s Principal, Oladimeji Yusuf, pledged to work on areas of improvement the team had identified while also providing adequate facilities for the learners and teachers.
The yardstick for assessment includes skills development, conducive learning environments, classroom space, laboratory equipments, ICT facility, clinics, and perimeter fencing among others.
