DESPITE steps being taken by some state governments to tackle infrastructural decay and drastically reduce students' dropout rate in the public school system, students' performance in both terminal and public examinations has continued to worry stakeholders. To make things worse, a recent data release by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), revealed that Nigeria has the highest number of 8.6 million out of school children in the world.To effectively implement the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programmme, the Lagos State Government recently held an interactive session with head teachers of the state's public primary schools and parents, to brainstorm on issues ranging from effective monitoring of teaching and learning in schools, the use of free textbooks and their safety, formalisation of record keeping, general attitude and comportment, effective monitoring of the Early Child Care and Development Education (ECCDE) pupils and zero tolerance for levies amongst others.Organised by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the forum provided an opportunity for all the parties to rub minds.The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, who described the meeting as an interface between head teachers and parents, also averred that the continuous trend of mass failure in the public examinations (junior and senior secondary examinations -JSSCE and SSCE), had prompted the Lagos State Ministry of Education (LSMOE) and the SUBEB to re-introduce the Lagos State Common Entrance examination, which all primary six pupils must take and pass before they could be admitted into junior secondary schools.The commissioner, who was emphatic about the state government's decision not to pay examination fees for pupils who cannot pass promotion or national examinations, also insisted that all primary school pupils going into secondary schools must be prepared to do so.She insisted that parents must be prepared to work with the state government to enjoy the full benefits of free education. 'It will no longer be business as usual,' she affirmed. 'Parents who fail to turn up for the parents, teachers forum and open day of their children, she warned, might face dire consequences.She continued: 'It is sad to see children with torn uniforms, no school bags, no school shoes and sometimes, feeding these children is a problem for their parents. This has gone beyond just being poor. Government is doing so much, so parents must begin to live up to their responsibilities and provide the basic things that their children need. They must take their primary responsibility seriously.'Stressing that education remained the key to development and peace in the country, she observed: 'Any child who fails to attend classes or whose parents fail to attend PTA meetings, would be penalised. We insist on, at least, 80 per cent attendance. The government will not continue to pay money for children who are not ready to learn, so parents must ensure their children not only stay in school, they must show seriousness in their homework, study and pass their exams. No more automatic promotion in our schools.''We intend to embark on an entrance examination for all our primary six pupils who are going into JSS1, and it is our hope that after six years in primary school, the pupils should be worthy of our investment. Automatic promotion to the next class and placement of primary six pupils into junior secondary schools in the state would no longer be acceptable.'Olajundoye noted that in providing functional, universal and quality education for all Nigerians, irrespective of age, sex, race, religion, occupation, or location, teachers should also be alive to their responsibilities. 'The head teachers must go round for inspection, to make sure the teachers are in the classrooms and teaching. With so much investment in the sector, most of the students just play all day because the teachers are engaged in one business or the other and are not there to teach,' she said.Commenting on the plans by the state government to introduce the proposed examination, the SUBEB Chairman, Mrs. Gbolahan Daodu said: 'Many may think that the UBE law states that there must be no entrance examination for pupils going to school. But the plan to introduce entrance examination does not negate that law. After series of deliberation, it was agreed that the best way to improve standard is to ensure that we get the best out of our pupils. Just carrying the children from one class to another on automatic promotion is not doing anything to motivate and improve performance.'Daodu also revealed that the decision to introduce the examination to separate the serious pupils from those who need to buckle up was taken at the meeting of all the 36 chairmen of SUBEBs in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).On modalities for the examination, she said the questions would be within the range of the primary six curriculum. The pupils would be examined in English, Mathematics, General Knowledge and Aptitude Test.Her words: 'Pupils would have to score at least 50 per cent in Mathematics and English Language and also have a cumulative total of at least 50 per cent pass to be adjudged successful.'Daodu appealed to the head teachers to begin the extra work of ensuring that public school pupils get enough spaces in all the junior secondary schools since private schools' pupils would also partake in the same examination.She further explained that public primary school pupils who failed the examination, scheduled for July, would have another opportunity to re-take it in August to enable them gain admission into the junior secondary schools in September.However, Daodu read a riot act on illegal trading by teachers during schools hours. She said that government would not tolerate such 'unbecoming act' where pupils are neglected for mercantile ventures. Besides, teachers who travel overseas without obtaining the necessary official permission would henceforth be sanctioned.Encouraging the head teachers to ensure proper record keeping of all funds, donations and facilities in their custody, Daodu also warned that assistance from corporate organisations and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) must be directed through the proper channel to ensure that standards were adequately adhered to.The Board Secretary, Mrs. Titi Oluseye said: 'We are here to talk about education in our schools, to ensure that the provision of qualitative education is achieved and our goal is to work in collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure that the goal is achieved.'A parent, Mr. Salako Rotimi suggested that the state government should enforce stronger sanctions on any parent who failed to attend meetings or open day to see how their children were performing in school.He said: 'They should make attendance compulsory. Why should parents not attend a platform that has been offered to address issues about their children' The issue of government insisting on no levy is also a setback in the schools. Parents should be able to support the school and should not hide under the cloak of free education to shy away from even providing the basic needs of their children.'Another parent, Mr. Sodeinde Nurudeen said: 'Some of the schools, especially those outside the city are not being monitored. They lack toilets and water and the teachers are now traders. Some of them don't come to class till about 10 am. Parents not paying attention to their wards in school will not augur well. They even fail to attend the open day, to find out how their children are performing in class.'For another parent, Mr. Ganiyu Ibrahim, the government cannot continue to talk about development in the education sector when most of the primary schools are still in ruins. He stated: 'In Ajeromi Ifelodun, our children hardly go to school during the rainy season because of flood and teaching is hardly done because the classrooms are in a terrible state.'Mrs. Margaret Dibia from Animashaun Nursery and Primary School, Ijeshatedo, Surulere said, 'this is a step in the right direction. All the issues raised here are not problems but challenges and to face them, we must begin to take new steps to address them as headteachers because we are closer to the schools and the people.'On the proposed entrance examination, she said: 'We welcome the idea because in those days, we know how all hands used to be on deck, when our children were about to write the common entrance examination. This is the first step toward an external examination before taking other major exams. Both schools and parents should be on their feet to ensure their wards get good results and help raise standard.'Another head teacher from St. Steven Primary School, Lagos Island, Mr. Anjorin Ajayi, maintained that parent's involvement would automatically affect growth of the schools. 'This idea of government providing everything is what has killed education. Even stationeries, parents feel government should provide. Some children come to school without a pencil. I also want to implore the state government to carry us along on the issue of transfer. They must ensure that a teacher is replaced before sending them on transfer.'Chairman, Parents Teachers Forum, St. Agnes Primary School, Mr. James Unuigbe commended the state government 's efforts in taking the parents along in its development effort. 'Parents should endeavour to give their children the correct uniform, books and pencils and I insist that parents who fail to attend the parents' forum or open day should be sanctioned because they hide under the cloak of free education to neglect their children. The Eko project should be extended to the primary schools and discipline should be entrenched in the public school system if we want the children to be serious with their studies.
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