In Osun, no fewer than 600 less functioning private schools have been shut by the State Government of Osun.
This was made known at the Inter-ministerial Press briefing organized by the Ministry of Information and Civic Orientation of the State of Osun, at the Ministry’s Conference Room on Wednesday.
According to the State Commissioner for Education, Hon. Folorunsho Bamisayemi, the 600 mushroom private schools especially at primary level, were closed over failure to meet up with the minimum standard required by the State.
Bamisayemi explained that the development was part of the government’s effort to ensure sanity and sanctity in the education sector of the State.
The commissioner said, “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 irreducible 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.
“We are trying to eliminate quackery in the system and build a vibrant education system”, he said.
