Obaseki Orders Dedicated Centres for Primary Schools, JSS3 Exams

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has directed the immediate enforcement of a series of educational policies designed to ramp up the attendant gains the state has recorded in the sector.

Speaking to journalists on the policies in Benin City, the state capital, after the weekly State Executive Council Meeting, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare, said that the Council chaired by the Governor, resolved that going forward, “Every school must write Primary Six and Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE)/Junior Secondary School  Examination.”

Nehikhare stressed that Council declared that for any school to remain operational in the state, the the state government must be able to assess every learner to know if they meet learning proficiency, and gave the deadline for enrollment for the primary six and JSS 3 examinations as December 30th, 2022.

“Both examinations will take place in the 2nd term,  precisely in March 2023 to give the Ministry of Education enough time to mark and place students in the next grade,” he added.

He continued: “Every student must show up for 3rd term in order to be awarded certificates, the Basic Education Examination or Junior Secondary School Examination will no longer be written at schools. It must be in a centre.

“Biometric capturing of all students and issuance of students’ Identity Cards will be pursued vigorously by the Ministry of Education.”

The Commissioner also said that “Minimum land size for schools will be enforced, and explained that a four-bedroom flat apartment is not a school.

“Enrolling students for schools that are not registered will attract a ban on the offending private school and students’ enrollment for primary six and Basic Education Certificate Examination or Junior Secondary School Examination will count towards tax review.”

He added that some unscrupulous  owners of private schools have resorted to mudslinging because the state government is committed to eliminating ‘miracle centers’ from the education sector where these proprietors exploit examination candidates for money.

Nehikhare justified the registration fee charged by the state government as some schools that were licensed to operate only primary schools, have since gone ahead to operate secondary schools without registering the secondary arm with the government and without the required facilities.