Some private school pupils in Lagos on Saturday were not allowed to take part in the placement test into public Junior Secondary School (JSS1) for 2014/2015 academic.
The schools were alleged to have failed to register the pupils for the examination. According to reports from Premium Times, the Executive Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) disclosed these to journalists monitoring the exercise in the state. Ms. Daodu said that some pupils were not allowed to write the test because their school administrators did not register them with Lagos State Examination Board.
She said that the schools were given adequate notice for registration but failed to comply. “There is no provision of examination materials for the pupils because they did not register with the examination board, so that we can make provision for them.
“We have introduced Optical Mark Reader (OMR) answer sheets to check malpractice and there is no provision for unregistered pupils. “We have captured all the pupils that are needed to sit for this examination and they are okay,” she said. She bemoaned the private schools for disrupting the smooth conduct of the examination.
“It is the private schools that are giving us problem today; the schools are mostly the unregistered private schools. In spite of the magnanimity of the state government to allow them participate even when their schools have not been approved, they are not ready to take part in the examination.
“We learnt that as at Friday, some schools were still coming to register. It is not possible for such schools and their pupils to participate in the examination because we do not have plans for them.
“For us to succeed in anything we want to do, there must be adequate planning. All schools whether public or private were given about six months notice in order not to have this kind of problem,” Ms. Daodu said. She, however, said that in spite of limited space, resources, and facilities the government still tries to accommodate all children of school age resident in the state.
“The examination should be improving yearly but I am disappointed with the conduct of our private schools. “It is really disappointing and I blamed the parents for registering their children in mushroom schools,” she said. Ms. Daodu said that 140,000 pupils were catered for by the state government to participate in the test.
She also urged parents to stop registering their children and wards with unregistered private schools that are out to exploit them. “Register your children with appropriate schools that are recognised by the government. Stop patronising mushroom schools that do not have the interest of your children at heart.
“This excise is to prepare them for the task ahead and also check examination malpractice,” she said
