Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor has disclosed that over N4.2b was spent in the last four years to keep the promise of full payment of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) fees to keep the students moving up the ladder and to ensure no student is left behind till the end of secondary school education.
Sanwo-Olu who was represented by Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, his Deputy stated this while speaking at the Children’s Day celebration held at the Police College in Ikeja on Saturday.
He said the state has not defaulted in the payment of WAEC fees of all public school SS3 Students in the last four years.
“As a testament to this huge investment, the performance of our students with a minimum of five credits including Mathematics and English in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination has improved from 38.79 percent in 2020 and now oscillates between 80 percent to 74 percent in 2022 and 2023.
“For the first time in recent years, a preliminary report indicated a good number of our public secondary school students scored over 350 marks, while hundreds scored over 250 marks in the Joint Admission and Matriculation Examination conducted recently. I celebrate the likes of Dejo Osejoro Segbenu who scored 352, Raphael Mulero who scored 351 and many others who made us proud with excellent performance in academics and co-curricular competitions,” he said.
The Governor assured that his administration would continue to empower the children and the youths with the requisite skills for a self-reliant future by providing a suitable path for them based on their skills and competence.
Speaking further he said that the negative menace of out-of-school children across the world was escalated by Covid-19, natural disasters and various man-made instability like civil disturbances and wars.
“Our dear country also has a large number of children who are out of school which was majorly caused by the daily influx of families from other parts of the country in search of economic opportunities.
He stated further that since 2019 this administration has delivered a series of initiatives and intervention programs for the benefit of the children to show this administration’s commitment to Child Rights protection, and welfare and also create awareness on issues that are important to making children happy.
“We recognize the role that early childhood education plays in ensuring a better future for our children. As part of our efforts to improve teaching and learning in our Primary and Secondary Schools across the State, we have commissioned over 1,449 projects covering 1,036 schools across all 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs.
These projects according to him include; the construction, renovation, and rehabilitation of dilapidated Public Schools, and the supply of composite units of furniture to schools, among other infrastructure projects.
Abayomi Abolaji, Permanent Secretary Ministry Of Education earlier in his welcome address said that the theme for this year: “More Funding for Primary Education’, shows that more attention is required at the foundational level for the children to be properly taken care of and positioned on the path of greatness from their formative years.
He said the state has recorded some enviable results in the performance of pupils and students from our public primary and secondary schools in the last four years due to enhanced funding for the education sector by the administration of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu.
“By implication, we have witnessed noticeable improvements in the State’s education sector in the form of infrastructure, conducive atmosphere, qualitative teaching and learning and wholesome reward system in Lagos State,” he added.
