No automatic promotion for public school students —Oyo govt

Against the backdrop of recent protests in Oyo State, against the “No Automatic Promotion” policy of the state government, the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun, has said that the government remained undeterred in sticking to the policy.

Contained in a statement on Sunday, Arulogun was quoted as stating that the decision to cancel automatic promotion in public schools was in line with the renewed resolve of the state government to improve the quality of education in the state.

Arulogun, quoting unimpressive statistics of the state’s performance at public examinations in the past 15 years, harped on the necessity of the state climbing to the upper rung of the ladder in public examinations through strategic education reform plans of the state government.

“We cannot encourage automatic promotion considering the woeful performance of our students in examinations in the last 15 years. The statistics we have from the Ministry of Education strongly supports the state government’s stance. In the Year 2008, 61,232 sat for the exam, 5,608 passed. In 2009, 60,444 sat for the exam, 7,204 passed. In 2010, 65,330 sat for the exam and 8,757 passed. In 2011, 72,559 sat for the exam and 12,314 passed while in 2012, there were 75,179 candidates and 12,314 passed.

“The situation has been the same in the last three years. In 2013, 74,319 wrote the exams, 16,049 passed. In 2014, 77,685 sat for the exam and 16,197 passed and in 2015, we had 78,897 candidates and 17,051 passed. The step to sustain the cancellation of automatic promotion was taken in the overall interest of the public. We must give our children quality education,” Arulogun said.

Similarly, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, chided the protests against the “no automatic promotion policy” of government while assuring teachers and students in the state public schools of maximum security.

He noted that the state government would continue to enforce the “no automatic promotion policy” in public secondary schools, calling on parents, teachers and stakeholders to abide by the policy.

Also speaking against the backdrop of a recent assault on a teacher of Oba Akinbiyi High School II, Mokola, Ibadan, by a man said to be mentally deranged, Olowofela said that security operatives and the National Association of Parents Teachers Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), Oyo State chapter, had been tasked on the need to protect and monitor schools in the state.