Lagos Bans Under-age Admission In Public Schools

Lagos State government says no pupil will henceforth be eligible for admission into any secondary school in the state without completing primary six.

The state commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, who disclosed this yesterday at an interactive session with proprietors and other stakeholders, affirmed that the era of admitting underage children into secondary schools in the state is gone, saying government has set up a standing committee to harmonize the school calendar, curriculum and time table for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (JSS111) of public and private schools in the state.

She added that the state government will soon set up a committee which she said will also proffer solutions to some of the challenges being faced by private schools operators in the state.

The Commissioner explained that the interactive session was informed by the need to bring together key participants in the education sector to deliberate on the policy thrust of government, noting that government alone cannot take the education sector to greater heights without the support and cooperation of stakeholders.

She urged parents and guardians to converse in vernacular with their children and wards at home, stressing that it is by so doing that they can encourage use of mother-tongue by the children.
The commissioner noted that government has been magnanimous enough by paying the West Africa Examination Council fees of all SSS III pupils in public schools, adding that it cannot do same for students in private schools since such schools are ran as profit oriented outfits.
Oladundoye added that since it is the choice of the parents who can afford to take their children to such schools they should be able to meet the obligation to the institutions