A total of 46 secondary schools in Lagos State have been punished for examination malpractices as well as other crimes committed during the 2020 West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, and the Basic Education Certificate Examination, BECE.
Twenty-seven schools were sanctioned for WASSCE infringements, while 19 were punished for BECE infractions.
According to Mr Olaniran Emmanuel, the Public Affairs Officer of the Office of Education Quality Assurance, OEQA, the steps were taken in response to the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo’s direction that two investigative committees look into the concerns.
The Chairman, Teaching Service Commission, TESCOM, Mrs. Elizabeth Ariyo, led the investigation panel of enquiry where 19 schools were investigated and indicted for general examination malpractice and document falsification by the OEQA during the year 2020 WASSCE and the BECE.
Some of the schools received letters of advice and warning, while others were told they would have to pay fines as a result of their actions.
The TESCOM chairman, addressing the involved school owners said, “A level of trust has been reposed in schools to uphold the virtues of a qualitative educational system and not continue to bring disrepute to the state ministry of education”.
She stated that the state government would continue in its endeavor to identify recalcitrant schools and discipline them accordingly.
She stated that schools must assist Governor Babajide Sanwo-administration, Olu’s which will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that pupils receive a quality and sound education.
In the other investigative panel led by the Director- General, OEQA, Mrs. Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, 27 secondary schools found guilty by the West African Examination Council, WAEC, for general examination malpractice where fined up to Five Hundred Thousand Naira payments made to the state government’s treasury following the conclusion of the investigations.
The fine, she noted, was to serve as deterrent to offenders.
She emphasized that the decisions of the investigative panel of enquiry were corrective measures, adding that recalcitrant offenders could have their approval totally withdrawn and school deregistered, within the two-year WAEC-mandated DE recognition term, all indicted schools must redo the Whole School Evaluation (WSE) and Subject Recognition Inspection (SRI) processes with OEQA.
Mrs. Seriki-Ayeni asked school owners to ensure that their children are appropriately prepared for external examinations in order to avoid any type of examination misconduct in her remarks.
She said; “You must ensure to instill good morals in your students because the Lagos State Government has zero tolerance for examination malpractice and any form of social vices. Therefore, all school administrators must see to it that their students are self-confident, rooted and well groomed academically”.
To rebuild parents’ faith, she encouraged the charged schools to implement a methodology that works against examination malpractice into their systems.
She advised the affected school owners and the general public to continue to follow government policies and rules on the conduct of examinations in the state in order to avoid falling foul of the law.
Source: The Vanguard