The Ondo State Government has banned the promotion of pupils from Primary 4 to secondary school, warning public and private schools against breaching the national 6-3-3-4 education system.
The government also announced measures to tackle examination “miracle centres” and close unregistered and undocumented private schools operating in the state.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Igbekele Ajibefun, disclosed this during a meeting with education stakeholders in Akure, the state capital, on Thursday, ahead of schools’ resumption next week.
Ajibefun said the premature promotion of pupils was affecting the quality of education by depriving them of two additional years of learning at the primary school level.
He said the policy was being implemented because some pupils who were not adequately prepared were subsequently registered for state and national examinations.
“We noticed that some students who are not qualified for certain exams, like state exams, and even national exams like WAEC, are being registered for these exams.
“The education policy of Nigeria is 6-3-3-4. That means six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary school and three years in senior secondary school.
But many of our schools, particularly primary schools, bypass this policy.
“We have cases where pupils are moved from Primary 4 to secondary schools,” he said.
The commissioner said pupils must complete six years of primary education before proceeding to secondary school, although exceptionally brilliant pupils could benefit from double promotion.
“For a student to spend just four years, it means two years are cut off from the learning environment and the learning process. Some students, when they get to secondary school, don’t have the foundation to cope, and when they get to the point of writing the WAEC exam, this is why they will want to cheat and commit all forms of exam fraud,” Ajibefun stated.
He said the state would fully implement the Federal Government’s 6-3-3-4 policy, stressing that double promotion would only apply to academically qualified pupils.
“We are stopping students, pupils, from moving to secondary school without passing through Primary Six. If we have very brilliant students, yes, they can have double promotion. But not that all pupils in the class would jump from Primary Five to Primary Six. That is what is also affecting the quality of education in our environment,” he said.
Ajibefun also announced a crackdown on examination “miracle centres”, saying the government would not tolerate facilities where examination malpractice was perpetrated.
“We do hear about the examination ‘miracle centres’. Yes, we learned that the exam miracle centres are where all forms of exam fraud are committed. So, we are going to look at these areas; we are going to do total monitoring. If we discover any, this is the time to eliminate it,” he said.
The commissioner said the government would also clamp down on private schools operating without registration or proper documentation.
He said the number of unregistered private schools in the state was believed to be higher than that of registered schools, noting that some were operating from single rooms and sheds without being captured in government records.
“Having identified some of the issues that require some corrective measures, the ministry is coming up with new policies and these new policies will take effect, most of them, from this new academic year,” Ajibefun stated.