Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has threatened heavy sanctions against school officials caught aiding and abetting examination malpractices during 2019 WASSCE.
He revealed that the misconduct in the 2019 examination by school officials has led to the blacklist of 165 schools in the state and financial penalties the state is mandated to pay.
According to a statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, the examinations which was held between April 8 and May 31, 2019, is the worst in the history of the state.
The statement noted that the misconduct which affects 122 public secondary schools and 43 private schools, have been each fined N250,000 by WAEC.
The statement read in part,
This administration is sad to note that WAEC has derecognised 165 schools in Kwara because of widespread cases of cheating in the 2019 senior secondary certificate examination in which some top education officials and parents were implicated.
This is very unfortunate and this administration will not hesitate to sanction school heads or officials that ever engage in such conduct in the future.
Governor AbdulRazaq went on to urge parents to desist from encouraging cheating in the examination saying;
As a result of such incidents of aiding and abetting of examination malpractices, this administration will now have to pay N30.5 million of scarce public resources to get the necessary approval for the affected public schools to host WAEC examinations in the future.
In his conclusion;
Examination malpractice constitutes some of the worst hindrances to a bright future because it negates the time tested principles of hard work, diligence, and thirst for knowledge and excellence.
