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The Benue State Education Quality Assurance and Examinations Board (BEQAEB) has ordered Jewel Model School to immediately reverse its controversial ₦106,000 registration fee for WAEC and NECO examinations after a flood of petitions accused the school of extortion.
The directive followed several formal complaints from parents who described the amount as excessive and unjustifiable. The board summoned the school’s proprietor, principal, and PTA executives to an emergency meeting, where the management reportedly failed to provide any reasonable justification for the inflated levy.
Speaking on the development, the Executive Secretary of BEQAEB, Dr. Terna Francis, reminded schools that the officially approved registration fee for WAEC in Benue State is ₦28,000, while NECO is yet to announce its 2026 rates. He stressed that schools are permitted to collect only the approved examination fees plus a maximum of ₦5,000 as handling charges, nothing more.
Francis also made it clear that registering candidates for both WAEC and NECO remains optional and must never be imposed on parents. Any additional charges, he insisted, must be transparently discussed and mutually agreed upon, not unilaterally fixed by school authorities.
The executive secretary expressed serious concern over reports that parents at Jewel Model School have been denied avenues to air their views, noting that no PTA meeting has been held in two years and that the school’s WhatsApp platform allegedly restricts parents from commenting. He equally frowned at the practice of routing both school fees and examination fees through the proprietor’s personal bank account, describing it as a gross violation of accountability standards that makes proper auditing impossible.
Dr. Francis has directed the Director of Enforcement and Compliance Operations, Rev. Fr. Dr. Terungwa Tor, to personally monitor the school and ensure full and immediate compliance with the reversal order.
In a stern warning to other schools across the state, he declared that any institution found exploiting parents or imposing unnecessary financial burdens on learners risks having its operational licence withdrawn, adding that such sharp practices are directly contributing to the rising number of out-of-school children in Benue.
Parents who spoke anonymously to reporters hailed the swift intervention, with many expressing hope that the board will sustain the tempo and extend similar oversight to other private schools accused of similar excesses.
