The Lagos State government has announced the cancellation of resit examination of Secondary School Placement Test in the State, according to the Permanent Secretary of the State’s Ministry of Education, Mr. Adesina Odeyemi.
Odeyemi, who disclosed this at the end of a recent meeting of stakeholders in the sector, said the cancellation was necessitated by the fact that most candidates scheduled for the re-write of the examination failed to show up after the government has invested heavily in human and material resources to re-conduct the exercise.
He urged parents to groom their children properly for the placement examination since there would no longer be the re-sit of the placement test.
“It is very important to impress it on parents and teachers to groom their children properly for the examination to ensure success as re-sits of the failed papers have been cancelled”, he said, adding that anyone who failed the test will have to wait till the following year for another opportunity.
Odeyemi stated that the annual Placement Test which qualifies pupils for placement into State Secondary Schools will come up in the month of July 2017.
He emphasised that it is mandatory for all pupils in public and private schools to attend the 6th class (Primary 6) and attain the minimum age of 10 years to be qualified to write the examination, adding that the test is compulsory for all Primary 6 students in public and private primary schools in the State whether they intend to attend public secondary schools or not, because, according to him, it is the only evidence of having acquired the First School Leaving Certificate of Education.
On efforts being made to curb examination malpractices, the Permanent Secretary stated that the State has deployed Optical Mark Recognition machines to emboss pictures of the candidates on the registration cards to prevent representation by proxy.
The machine is also expected to randomise questions and answers to prevent cheating as well as brand question papers per candidate to discourage swapping.
Odeyemi said the Government, through the Ministry, has directed Head Teachers in public primary schools to ensure that no primary six pupil is left out of the test registration process.
He also advised proprietors of private schools and parents to also endeavour to register their pupils within the stipulated time.
The Permanent Secretary warned that any pupil who failed to complete the registration process would not be allowed at designated centres as done in the past when candidates complained of inability to complete the registration process.
