Benue Moves To End Illegal Exam Fees, Crush Miracle Centres

By Christianah Oladosu, Osogbo

Benue State Education Quality Assurance and Examinations Board (BEQAEB) has unveiled strict measures to halt unauthorised examination fees and dismantle the operations of so-called miracle centres across the state.

The Board said on Friday that its current enforcement actions are firmly rooted in existing laws and are designed to restore credibility and discipline within the education sector.

Addressing journalists during an engagement with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Makurdi, the Executive Secretary of BEQAEB, Dr. Terna Francis, stated that the agency is mandated to reform and closely regulate both public and private educational institutions.

He explained that the state government intentionally strengthened the Board by separating it from the Ministry of Education, a move aimed at ensuring autonomy and improving its ability to enforce quality assurance standards in schools.

Francis noted that under its establishing law, BEQAEB is empowered to inspect, monitor, accredit, regulate and sanction schools when necessary. He added that opposition from some school owners often arises whenever compliance with regulations is enforced.

According to him, the recent resistance from private school operators was triggered by the Board’s intervention against exorbitant and illegal examination fees.

He disclosed that some schools collected up to N35,000 for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) instead of the approved N10,250. Similarly, candidates for WAEC examinations were reportedly charged between N70,000 and N100,000, despite the official fee standing at N27,500, inclusive of processing costs.

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

He clarified that only levies provided for under the Revenue Administration Law and captured in the 2026 budget estimates are acceptable. These include charges for Quality Control, Workshops, Sports and ICT Development.

The BEQAEB boss also revealed that the newly deployed e-Dossier platform is designed to eliminate miracle centres.

He explained that the system replaces manual record-keeping and allows continuous assessment and examination scores to be uploaded in real time, effectively stopping last-minute transfers of students to favoured centres ahead of 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 further noted that the digital system would address delays in the release of examination results, which he attributed to poor coordination and negligence by some school administrators following the merger of examination bodies.

He concluded by stating that BECE and Mock-SSCE results conducted during the third term would now be released promptly and would serve as the official criteria for promotion into SS1 and SS3, in line with established regulations.