The Universal Basic Education Commission disclosed, on Monday, it had partnered with the Council for Registration of Engineers in Nigeria to curb the rising cases of school building collapse in the country.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, spoke on Monday, during the training of staff of the commission’s department of physical planning, on enhancing quality delivery of projects using simple tools for on-the-spot assessment at project sites.
The training was organised in collaboration with the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute and a private firm, Tectonics Engineering Group, and held at UBEC Digital Resource Centre, Abuja.
Bobboyi, who noted that the UBEC, would no longer condone shoddy execution of projects, warned contractors about the risks of delivering substandard school infrastructure in the country.
He restated the commitment of the commission to work with SUBEBs to improve the quality of educational structures to ensure a safe and conducive learning environment for Nigerian children.
He also disclosed that the commission would deploy monitors who would frequently go to find out what is going on across the construction sites.
“We are dealing with a very strategic sector, children who are between the ages of five, six up to about 12 that are very vulnerable in any building collapse. We saw that when it happened in Jos.
“So, I’m now throwing a warning to contractors involved in taking contracts in constructing schools without following the required specification. They should sit up.
“UBEC has come up with an idea of ascertaining the quality of construction material used on site. The quality of concrete needs to be specified and the contractor must adhere to it. If he didn’t use it, the UBEC staff visiting the site, they are expected to travel or to come with tools.