Exam Malpractice: Oyo to sanction parents, principals of schools delisted by WAEC

Oyo State Government has vowed to sanction parents and principals of about 50 schools delisted by the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) over examination malpractice in the state.

The state commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abiodun Abdu-Raheem, who made this known to journalists on Tuesday, November 29, said the sanction will reinforce the state’s stance against examination malpractice.

He warned principals to desist from encouraging examination malpractice which he said was becoming endemic in both private and public schools in the state.

“It should be noted that the Oyo State Government has zero tolerance for examination malpractices, therefore, principals and teachers of both private and public schools and parents were earlier warned to desist from any act of collaboration on examination malpractices as sanctions would be meted to concerned staff and parents,” he said.

Abiodun disclosed that it is only WAEC that has the authority to release withheld results of schools that have been indicted in malpractices in the state.

He further disclosed that derecognized schools will not be permitted to present candidates for WAEC for a period of two years, adding, “However, this does not debar students of such schools from sitting for the West African Examination Certificate (WAEC), as they are mobilised to the nearest school to write the WAEC; only the identified school is derecognized as a WAEC Centre.”

“It should be noted that the Government of Oyo State will waste no time to investigate any such occurrence, while the necessary punishments as enumerated above will be meted to anyone found guilty”, the commissioner stressed.

He advised heads of both public and private institutions in the state to desist from any act that could ridicule their schools and portray the image of the state in a bad light.

Abdu-Raheem also assured residents that no student in the state will be prevented from writing the WAEC in the 2022/2023 Academic Session and subsequent years.

Meanwhile, the 2023 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Teslim Folarin, has kicked against the planned sanctions by the state government.

He noted that the examination malpractice was neither the fault of the teachers nor the principals of the affected schools. Rather he blamed it on the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration in the state.

Folarin added that the standard of education in the state has declined under the governor.

“Under Governor Seyi Makinde-led PDP administration, Oyo State ranked 33rd in external examinations and recently, 50 secondary schools were blacklisted and delisted by WAEC. The sad developments are unprecedented in the history of Oyo State.

“The most worrisome aspect of PDP government in Oyo State is the continuous leadership failure characterised by maladministration at all levels as a result of incompetence, state-sponsored insecurity, crippling of local government administration, the poor state of infrastructure, consultancy policy in tertiary institutions, growing debt profile, dereliction of duties and among others,” he added.