The West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) has delisted a number of schools, and the Oyo State Government has announced its intention to punish principals and parents of those schools for wrongdoing during the state’s examinations.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has countered that it is incorrect for the government to place the burden for what could be considered leadership failure on either the principals or the parents.
Senator Teslim Folarin, the party’s nominee for governor, ascribed the situation to poor leadership.
However, the government claimed that due to its zero tolerance policy for examination malpractice, it would not change its decision to penalize both the principals and the parents who were found to be ineligible.
Barr. Abiodun Abdu-Raheem, the state’s commissioner for education, science, and technology, recently informed principals of the government’s position and urged them to stop promoting test malpractice, which was spreading to both private and public schools in the state.
As a result, he said, “Principals, teachers, and parents of both private and public schools were previously warned to desist from any act of collaboration on examination malpractices as sanctions would be meted out to concerned staff and parents. It should be noted that the Oyo State Government has zero tolerance for examination malpractices.
Only the West African Examination Council (WAEC) has the right to publish the list of institutions that have been found to be engaging in examination malpractice and to de-recognize such schools in accordance with the law, according to Abiodun.
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“However, this does not debar students from such schools from sitting for the West African Examination Certificate (WAEC), as they are mobilized to the nearest school to write the WAEC,” he continued, “only the identified school is derecognized as a WAEC Center.” He also revealed that derecognized schools will not be allowed to present candidates for WAEC for a period of two years.
It should be underlined that the Oyo State government would look into any such incident right away, and anyone found guilty will receive the relevant consequences listed above, the governor continued.
However, the Commissioner cautioned leaders of the state’s public and private institutions to abstain from any actions that might disparage their institutions and damage the state’s reputation.
As a result, he urged the general public to take note that no student in the State would be denied the opportunity to take the WAEC in the academic sessions beginning in 2022 and 2023 and in years to come.
Senator Teslim Folarin, an All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for governor in Oyo State in 2023, has charged Governor Seyi Makinde of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with being to blame for the state’s declining educational standards.
In the meantime, the APC candidate for governor bemoaned the status of education in Oyo State during Makinde’s rule. Hence the requirement for comprehensive government intervention that is accountable and receptive.
“Oyo State placed 33rd in external exams under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde’s PDP administration, and WAEC recently banned and delisted 50 secondary schools. The tragic events are unique in Oyo State history.
He continued, “The most concerning feature of the PDP government in Oyo State is the continuous leadership failure characterized by maladministration at all levels as a result of incompetence, state-sponsored insecurity, crippling local government administration, the poor state of infrastructure, consultancy policy in tertiary institutions, growing debt profile, dereliction of duties, and among others.
Additionally, Folarin cautioned Governor Makinde against making snap judgments regarding the 50 schools’ principals and teachers who had been disciplined by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for offenses that seemed to be examination malpractice.
He argued that Makinde should review his educational policy rather than blaming the administrators or teachers of the impacted institutions.
