Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has revealed that over 4,000 substandard or “mushroom” schools have been identified across the state.

In a media briefing on Thursday, delivered by his Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo, the governor highlighted significant strides made in the education sector over the past two years. He noted that the discovered schools were not conducive to learning and lacked qualified teaching staff.

While Governor Alia did not disclose the specific actions to be taken regarding the affected schools, Tersoo announced that 9,700 qualified teachers had recently been recruited into the state’s primary school system to strengthen the quality of education.

The governor also stated that, during the 2023/2024 academic year, the government covered the examination fees for around 19,000 students writing external examinations such as the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the National Examination Council (NECO), and the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB). Specifically, 8,119 students benefitted from WAEC fee payments, 8,979 from NECO, and 1,547 from NABTEB.

In higher education, Alia's administration cleared a 38-month backlog of earned allowances owed to staff at the former Benue State University, now Moses Adasu University. He emphasized that under his leadership, tertiary institutions in the state have maintained uninterrupted academic sessions.

Highlighting future plans, the governor also disclosed that his administration had secured a license to establish a University of Technology in Ihugh, located in Vandeikya Local Government Area.

“The current administration has brought stability to the state’s education sector through various interventions,” Tersoo said.