Ibadan — Oyo State government has declared a state of emergency in the education sector and articulated a 10-year plan to curb the mass failure of Senior Secondary Three (SS3) students in external examinations conducted by bodies like the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) National Examinations Council (NECO) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Commissioner for Education, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, who announced this in an interactive session with stakeholders in Ibadan recently, attributed the problem to incessant strikes, poorly equipped libraries and increase in school enrolment without corresponding provision or increase in infrastructure by past governments.

Adedoja announced the abolition of automatic promotion, saying that it contributed to the promotion of academically weak pupils along with their brighter colleagues. "Henceforth, promotion examinations will be moderated, while the government would employ 1,500 Science teachers by (this month) as part of the emergency measures."

He said the state government would henceforth recognise and reward school principals and teachers whose examination results were among the best 10, adding that there would be automatic scholarships for the best 10 students in the state's schools.

As a short-term measure, he said the state would establish remedial centres to serve as a rallying point to clusters of schools in various neighbourhoods.

"Adequate resources and specialised manpower will be deployed to these centres for intensive coaching that will ensure that the syllabus is covered and at no cost to the students. There will be three days of coaching during the week for special studies in those centres and we intend to provide experienced teachers in these centers. By February, we intend to put Physics, Chemistry and Biology equipment there."

As part of the long-term plan, he said the state would establish an education council, involving all stakeholders from whom government would tap ideas to ensure the success of its policies.

"In addition, libraries, civic centres will be established in all the five zones of the state to promote the reading culture."

Adedoja disclosed that the government had banned 2,626 students from this year's WAEC and NECO examination, for their absence during the mock examination that the state conducted for SS3 students.

He said a private education consultancy firm conducted the examination with WAEC and NECO assessors to mark the papers; this he said was done to get a correct picture of the standards in schools. He however explained that the students would be forgiven if they show sufficient good reasons for absenting themselves from the mock examination.

The Commissioner, who disclosed that the state has earmarked about N280 million for WASSCE fees this year, however stressed that henceforth, the privilege would only be enjoyed by students who passed the mock examination, adding that the aim was to get parents to be more concerned about the performance and future of their children.

He also called on Parent Teachers Associations (PTA) to be prepared to play greater roles in the provision of quality education in the state.

An Education Consultant, Kunle Sogbeyin, identified reading disability among students as the major cause of the mass failure. "The problem is that students don't know how to read and reproduce the knowledge they got in books, especially because of their deficiencies in the use of English Language."

He called for a law to promote reading among youths, similar to the Read Challenge Act 1997 passed and signed into law by former US President Bill Clinton. "The point is, if they (Americans) with their level of development can do that, our own burden as second language users is obviously heavier, so we must do it", Sogbeyin said.