The Benue State government says it has been having difficulty in regulating the amount of money paid as school fees in primary and post primary schools across the state.
Its Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Dannis Ityavyar, said this while fielding questions from the Benue State House of Assembly on the very high and arbitrary tuition charged by schools in the state.
Ityavyar, who put the blame on different school owners ranging from government, private and the missionary, explained that the ministry only had the mandate in the area of Quality Control.
He said variations in school ownership had made it impossible for the ministry to determine what each school should charge as fees including other sundry charges.
He said while the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) charged N13,000 for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), different schools had been collecting as much as N30,000 for same examination.
Ityavyar said the ministry appears to be helpless in the face of what he described as a ‘very difficult situation’ he found himself.
Speaker of the House Mr. Terkimbi Ikyange, lamented the arbitrary charges, and directed the ministry to step in and ensure control so as to reduce the sufferings of members of the public.