When Garba Musa, a 14-year-old boy started writing "Junior WAEC" in his school in Lugbe, Abuja, he did not know that he will not get the results. Nothing made him suspicious because his examination papers were printed exactly like that of his friends in government secondary schools.

But the difference is, while his friends have their Junior WAEC results to enable them proceed to senior secondary schools, Garba does not have and may never get his Junior WAEC certificate. This is not because he has not written the examination, but because his school is not approved by the government, hence it was not qualified to conduct the Junior WAEC examinations in the first place.

Now, his proprietor who was alleged to have faked the exam question papers has absconded, while Garba and his colleagues are now in a dilemma because they do not have any certificate to show for the three years they spent in that "school", making it difficult for them to further their education even if they want to change to another school.

The man who absconded because he could not provide his students with their certificates was said to have opened the school with the aim of holding extra-mural lessons and not to run a secondary school, but all of a sudden, decided to turn the place into a full-fledged school.

The above scenerio sums up a picture of mushroom schools in Abuja satellite towns where thousands of children are registered for primary and even junior secondary education.

A source in the Zonal Education Office of the FCT in Kuje, an Area council in Abuja, told Weekly Trust that it is one of the reasons why the FCT administration has embarked on the mission to close down illegal schools (like the one Garba attended) and other substandard schools in the FCT.

In a letter dated September 1, the FCT Minister, through the Department of Policy Implementation of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), informed illegal school operators and substandard schools owners, to seek government's approval or upgrade the standards in their schools otherwise they will be closed down within the next six months.

The source which preferred anonymity, said in Kuje Area Council alone, about 30 schools operating without approval and below standard have been given six months to get approval from the FCT Education Secretariat or face closure.

"The government is tired of seeing schools spring up everywhere even in the market without following the guidelines for the establishment of schools. Most of them don't have befitting classrooms and qualified teachers and the consequences of that is that the products of such schools come out as semi literates.

He continued, "Some sprang up without any form of approval whatsoever, hence they are illegal, just like the one the boy (Garba) attended that could not provide any certificate for students. The government has seen such illegalities and is going to shut them down in six months' time if they refuse to abide by the guidelines and upgrade the standard stated in the guidelines. School business is not for everybody.

In Mpape, one of the satellite towns, there is one of these schools, Syflora Nursery School operating from an uncompleted building used as classrooms where the pupils can only imagine doors but never saw one in their classrooms.

Head of the School, Mrs. Victoria Echimola, told Weekly Trust that the school which was opened two years ago was yet to be approved by the government.

Two years after coming on board without government's approval, the Head Teacher says, "We are working towards government's approval."

She refused to give details of the number of students and pupils in the school, saying she could only give such facts to supervisors from the FCT Education Office.

She, however, said the school charges N2,900 for Primary and N4,250 as fees for the junior secondary school.

At Morning Star Academy in Old Karimo, Weekly Trust noticed that the school had only two classrooms to accommodate all of its pupils. The pupils of the school who were, however, excited and energetic, seem not to be tired of chanting A,B,C and 1,2,3 most part of the day. They do not even mind the untidy environment with a nearby gutter filled with smelling stagnant water. A market was also close by whose activities mingle with classroom work. With the market around, only God knows what the pupils will learn under such conditions.

Also close to Kubwa market, Weekly Trust discovered three schools, one a secondary and two primary schools namely Success Academy, Breakthrough Academy and Divine Excellence International. While Success Academy was situated inside the market, the other two were sharing boundary with the market. This is contrary to one of the provisions in the guidelines for establishing a school which states that, "No school shall be cited within or near or have it gates less than 500 meters from the following premises: market, political office, bar, electricity high tension wire, express way, hilltop, motor park, petrol station".

Investigations by Weekly Trust revealed that most of these schools were not registered by the appropriate authority, yet parents continue to enrol their children and wards with them.

One of the parents, Mrs. Elizabeth Fred, told Weekly Trust that, "this school may not have good structures but I am satisfied with what they are teaching. I know how my child was before I brought her here, but now she has improved and because of that, I even refered some parents to bring their children here." This school that the parent was talking about is built with zinc with some sack used as window to shield pupils from the sun rays.

When Weekly Trust sought the views of the headmistress about what they are doing to get government's approval and buildings standardised with classrooms for the pupils, Mrs Ijeoma Madu of Mary Rich Nursery and Primary School, Kuje, said "the major problem we are facing is that of land acquisition. In the FCT, the process of acquiring land is very difficult. And even after applying for it, to purchase a minimum of two hectares of land, they are asking us to buy and of will cost us millions of naira. Where are we going to get it,? she asked rhetorically.

"She said, "if we disturb the parents so much about paying school fees, some will just take their children to another school. So the government can help us by making this plot available and affordable to help us build the kind of structures they are talking about. Because we are contributing to the economy of the nation by employing people and it is the same government that is talking about privatisation," she stressed.

Another private school operator, Mr. Amedu Isa, on his part, said, "if the government wants to close down substandard schools, they don't need to send us letters. All they need to do is to make their schools have the best facilities in terms of structures, teachers and other equipment and they will send us out of the market. It is because their own schools too are below standard, that is why parents are patronising us. In some of the public schools, pupils don't have chairs to seat on with some having up to 100 pupils in one class with one teacher. It is for this reasons that most parents have lost confidence in public schools. If not with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) which is almost free, why would parents be taking their children to private schools were they are paying?, he asked.

On the fate of the pupils of these schools as far as higher examinations are concerned, one of the headmistress, said "they can sit for higher examinations, saying the school does merge and register them with students of approved schools when the time comes to write the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE). Thus, these students not only take the exams under the name of the approved school, they also graduate with its certificate." This is, however, contrary to the provision in the guideline which says "no school shall register candidates from other schools for public examinations which those schools are not duly approved for."

Contacted, the Director, Department of Policy Implementations in the FCT, Mrs Rosemary Umana, said names of defaulting schools to be closed down willonly be made public at the appropriate time.

However, a source in the department told Weekly Trust that some schools have started responding but were complaining that the requirements for registration are too much and cannot be met by most of them. These requirements include having between two and five hectares of land, employing only NCE teachers, among others.

Other requirements as stated in the guideline is that "the schools should have an administrative block, a minimum of four classrooms for single stream schools and multiples of single classrooms thereafter. Similarly, all classrooms shall be well lit and ventilated and shall normally have two doors and five windows, with the dimension of the class being 7m x 4m x 3m to accommodate all instructional materials and free movement".

Also, "all schools should have a standard library, suitably furnished for the use of the students and the teachers. Then, every school shall have an assembly hall large enough to accommodate twice the number of the students. Again, nursery classrooms shall be furnished with low round tables and single seats. And also schools should have at least three V.I.P toilets".

Similarly, "the teachers are supposed to have a minimum of National Certificate of Education (NCE) and should have been registered with the Teachers Registration Council.

The Teacher - Pupil ratio should be 1-15 in a primary school.

That the schools must be duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission". These are the minimum requirements as stated in the National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions Act of 1985 (Decree 16 of 1985) which was reviewed in 2005 to regulate Primary and Secondary School standards in the country.

But with some of these schools having SSCE holders and dropouts as teachers, what can be expected of the pupils in these schools? Mrs. Bajoga, an educationist, said "just like a quack doctor is dangerous to the society, so will an unprofessional teacher destroy the lives of children if allowed". She said the education of children is not something we should joke with, especially the foundation because this will go a long way to determine what they become in future.