Edo plans designated exam centres to curb cheating

The Edo State government plans to provide designated examination centres for the conduct of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) to check cheating perpetrated by private schools in the state.

Chris Nehikhare, the commissioner for communication and orientation, disclosed to journalists in Benin City that the decision was in line with Governor Godwin Obaseki-led’s reforms in improving the standard of education in the state.

Nehikhare said the resolution came against the backdrop of a viral video purportedly done by some private school owners who prefer profit-making to imparting knowledge, adding that they have now resorted to making unsubstantiated claims against the government’s reforms.

The commissioner said the government will ensure that every child is proficient in different subjects at an early stage to enable them compete with their counterparts globally.

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“In the last 24 hours, a video from some private school owners went viral. We have investigated the video, but we need Edo people to know that whatever the government is doing for the education sector is not just for the parents but the benefit of Edo people, especially our children.

“We have made reforms in the education sector. These reforms cannot be holistic if restricted only to government-controlled schools and that is why we have also tried to bring the private schools into the ecosystem so that the standard of education will be uniform across the board.

“Whenever there is a reform, there will always be a fight back, especially from those who have fraudulently benefited from the laxity of previous regimes. This government wants the best for our children.

“I think one of the big problems for that part of the video is the insistence that the junior secondary school three exams will no longer be written at schools but at designated centres. We have many private schools that meet the standard but we have some cowboys who do it for the money; they write exams for the children and instead of teaching them to learn, they teach them to become cheats,” he said.