Benue Cracks Down on Illegal Exam Fees, Miracle Centres

The Benue State Education Quality Assurance and Examinations Board (BEQAEB) has declared an end to illegal examination fees and so-called miracle centres in the state.

The Board, on Friday, insisted that all its regulatory and enforcement actions are firmly rooted in law.

Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr. Terna Francis, while interacting with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Makurdi, clarified that BEQAEB’s mandate cover ongoing reforms and enforcement measures across public and private schools.

Francis said BEQAEB was deliberately strengthened and separated from the Ministry of Education by the state government to ensure an independent and more rigorous quality assurance system capable of enforcing minimum standards in schools.

He quoted the enabling law, saying the Board was legally empowered to inspect, monitor, regulate, accredit and sanction schools, noting that resistance from some proprietors was expected whenever regulation was enforced.

He disclosed that recent pushback from private school owners followed BEQAEB’s decision to query what he described as “exorbitant and illegal charges,” including the collection of up to N35,000 for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) instead of the approved N10,250, and between N70,000 and N100,000 for WAEC examinations, which officially cost N27,500 inclusive of processing fees.

“These practices will no longer be tolerated,” Francis said.

He added that only fees approved in the Revenue Administration Law and the 2026 budget estimates such as Quality Control, Workshop, Sports and ICT Development levies are collectible by the Board.

The BEQAEB boss also announced that the introduction of the e-Dossier system would effectively eliminate miracle centres.

He explained that the digital platform replaces manual records and allows real time upload of continuous assessment and examination scores, making it impossible for students to migrate to schools shortly before external examinations.

“With the e-Dossier, every learner’s academic record is tied to a particular school. Any suspicious movement is automatically flagged, and such candidates will not be registered,” he said.

Francis said the system would also address delays in the release of results, which he attributed to poor planning and negligence by some school principals following the merger of examination agencies.

He further disclosed that BECE and Mock-SSCE results conducted in the third term would henceforth be released promptly and used as the legal basis for promotion into SS1 and SS3, in line with existing regulations.

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