According to Oluremi, although some of the schools are not government-owned, the deputy governor who also doubles as the state Commissioner for Education has saddled an enquiry committee with the responsibility of investigating the schools and make recommendations to the state.
Barely a week after SaharaReporters and other news platforms published a multimedia investigation detailing certificate fraud within the Lagos State Ministry of Education and various malfeasances in both national and state Common Entrance Examinations in Lagos State, the Deputy Governor, Idayat Ranti Adebule, has set up a committee to investigate schools indicted in the report.
The Executive Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Sopeyin Ganiyi Oluremi, disclosed this in an interview with SaharaReporters, on Tuesday.
According to Oluremi, although some of the schools are not government-owned, the Deputy Governor, who also doubles as the state Commissioner for Education, has saddled an enquiry committee with the responsibility of investigating the schools and making recommendations to the state.
He said: “Her Excellency, the Deputy Governor who doubles as the Commissioner for Education in Lagos State has immediately set up a committee to look into all of these reports and make appropriate and adequate recommendations. I am sure within the next one week, that committee would have come up with their report, and actions would follow.
Oluremi, however, disowned Ajenifuja Kazeem, the staffer who arranged a back-door First School Leaving Certificate for our correspondent, who had gone to SUBEB’s office to make an enquiry on how to get the FSLC.
He said: “We have searched through our records and it was discovered that no name like that appears on our database. We have a database for SUBEB, headquarters
or local government districts or schools under the purview of districts.
“SUBEB does not issue certificates, there is a body, that is, the Lagos State Exams Board, and I must tell you without being sentimental, Lagos State Exams Board will not issue certificates to people that do not sit for the placement examination."
On the evidence of mass cheating during the state organised Common Entrance Examination, he said the state would intensify its effort on securing the sanctity of its exams.
“A lot still needs to be done on security which is one thing the government is so much concerned about so that unscrupulous elements don’t have their ways into exams hall,” he said.
He extolled the government’s commitment to quality education and assured Lagosians of the state’s dedication to the education sector.
The investigation revealed how schools in Lagos State brazenly sell certificates and testimonials. It also revealed, among other things, how government invigilators connive with teachers and parents to aid and abet cheating during national and state Common Entrance Examinations.
At Government College in Victoria Island, one of the centres for the National Common Entrance, the investigation revealed cases of impersonation and mass cheating.[story_link align="right"]63829[/story_link]
The same malfeasances were unearthed at various centres, during the Lagos State organised Common Entrance Examination, also known as a placement test.