The Osun State Government has said it closed about 600 private schools, especially primary schools that do not meet the state’s minimum standard requirements.
Speaking during the Inter-ministerial Press briefing held at State Secretariat, Abere, the Education Commissioner, Folorunsho Bamisayemi, said the closure was part of the government’s effort to ensure sanity in the education sector.
“We have declared a war on mushroom schools. We have zero-tolerance for quacks in the system and schools that do not meet standards. We know the danger of mushroom schools because once anyone damages the education foundation of a child it becomes difficult to build a solid structure on it.
Starting from the ministry, we have reviewed our department of schools to ensure greater efficiency. We have segmented the department to supervise basic and post-basic schools. Anyone who wants to start a school must produce a TRCN Certificate, among other requirements. We no longer grant licenses just because someone has spare funds to spend.
“We have set minimum standards and also given provisional registrations to some schools, that runs for a window of two years, during which we ensure proper monitoring. If after two years, the benchmark isn’t met, it attracts outright closure,” he said.
However, the commissioner lamented that the 11 mega schools built by the previous administration were underutilised.
