School building collapse: NSSEC rolls out minimum standards on construction

The National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) says it will roll out minimum standards to avert incidences of school building collapse in the country.

The Executive Secretary, NSSEC, Dr Iyela Ajayi was speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday on the heels of the Jos building collapse that occurred July 12.

Ajayi called on private school owners to always engage professional engineers in the construction of schools to avoid collapse that could lead to loss of lives.

He expressed sympathy to the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang and the people of the state on the unfortunate incident of school building collapse killing several students.

“The truth is that before buildings are erected, you have professionals who are supposed to be engaged, the question is we must try at all time to make sure professionals in that area are engaged to do the job.

“In some months’ time, we will be coming out with what we call national minimum standards for senior secondary education.

“In the minimum standards, you are going to find the section that specifies the type of building you should have; it will also specify the type of materials to be used in your buildings and even the professionals you should engage.

“And of course when we come for monitoring, we will demand for all the documents of that building to ensure that what happened in Plateau will not repeat itself,” he said.

It was reported that a two-story school building at the Little Saints Academy, Busa-Buji, Jos Metropolis, collapsed during classes on Friday, July 12, 2024.

The tragic incident had resulted in the deaths of over 20 students, with many more sustaining various degrees of injuries.