The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, has presented Letters of Provisional Approval to 214 proprietors of private schools, just as she declared that the State Government is determined to end all forms of examination malpractices in schools.

The letters, which were presented on Tuesday to the proprietors at the 3rd Stakeholders forum with owners of private schools in the state, have increased the number of approved to 706 in the last three years.

In her speech at the forum, themed, “Ensuring Standard Guarantees Quality Education”, Adebule remarked that poor educational standard is responsible for examination malpractice which, she noted, has assumed an alarming proportion.

She stated that the report of the West African Examination Council since 2014 indicated that exam malpractice was on the rise and that private schools were most culpable, adding that, 28 of the 29 schools indicted in 2014 were private schools while 50 out of 60; and 53 of 66 schools indicted Y2015 and Y2016 respectively were privately owned.

According to her, apart from taking disciplinary measures against perpetrators and their collaborators, there is an urgent need to nip the menace in the bud, stressing that it was in the realisation of this, that a workshop on “Examination Malpractice and its Consequences – The way forward” was organised by the government to find lasting solutions to the problem.

She therefore appealed to private sector operators to join hands in the battle to kill the monster, saying that “I can’t imagine any educationist of good conscience, being happy to see his or her products who supposedly graduated with good grades never being able to pull through the university because they were never worth the certificate they possessed”.

The Chairman House Committee on Education, Hon. Lanre Ogunyemi, in his goodwill message urged the proprietors to cooperate with the government to ensure that all children of Lagos State either in public or private schools receive a quality education.

He pledged the State House of Assembly’s support for legislation that will improve the standard of education in the state.

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