By Emmanuel Antswen
The Benue Government says that the new guidelines in the education sector, when implemented, would improve the standard of education in the state.
Dr Terna Francis, Executive Secretary (ES) of the Benue Education Quality Assurance and Examinations Board (BEQAEB), made the assertion on Friday in Makurdi when he briefed newsmen.
Francis told newsmen that the guidelines were meant for both public and private schools and assured education stakeholders that BEQAEB would ensure their full implementation.
The executive secretary explained that the abolition of graduation ceremonies in nursery and basic schools and the use of customised textbooks and exercise books have come to stay.
He stated that the timelines for the Basic Education Certification Examination (BECE) and Mock were aimed at ensuring standard and seamless coordination, supervision, computation and release of examination results.
Francis explained that the introduction of e-dossiers for all learners was for standard, correct and timely computation of assessments of students in a central database that is easily accessible whenever needed.
According to him, the e-dossier platform is an automated performance tracker and a credible record of learner progress from Basic 1 to Basic 9 and from SS 1 to SS 3.
He explained that the system helps the board to rank schools by performance and monitor the migration of students at the point of registering for external examinations.
Francis added it would also eliminate excuses, enhance transparency, speed up school operations and enhance the early release of examination results.
He said the e-dossier platform will also eliminate the existence of miracle examination centres in the state.
“The law establishing BEQAEB provides that the board shall solely be responsible for continuous assessments and conduct of examinations.
“It is incumbent on us to determine how we want to carry this out so that it will be smooth, easy and efficient.
“So we have decided that we will use the e-dossier platform to record assessments. This is what even the Federal Ministry of Education is saying: that if a school is to register for WAEC or NECO, assessments should not be manufactured at the point of that registration.
“For every e-dossier that is released, there is a Personal Identification Number (PIN) attached to each learner and a particular school.
“If you are moving from one school to another, we will know because you will not have assessments.
So those operating miracle centres are not happy with us,” he said.
The ES further said that in order to block loopholes and corruption in the system, the board had automated all payments for its examinations through online or the banking system.
Francis stated that Gov. Hyacinth Alia took decisive action to restructure the entire examination system by merging the defunct examinations board with the Bureau for Education Quality Assurance. NAN
