Muslim school owners in the country have vowed to upgrade the quality of knowledge, skills, moral and values that are imparted in their students nationwide.
The national president of the League of Muslim School Proprietors (LEAMSP), Mr Abdulwahid Obalakun, gave the assurance at a recent stakeholders’ training conference organised by the group in Lagos.
No fewer than 50 delegates from Kwara, Ogun, Oyo and Lagos states among others attended the one-day programme with the theme: ‘Measurement and Evaluation: Means of Sustaining Examination Integrity.’
Welcoming participants to the event, Obalakun stated that LEAMSP as an association and its members are frequently reviewing its activities and are also undergoing training in necessary areas to ensure that things are done in line with the best global practices in the education sector.
He said one of the ways to achieve the goal is through their stakeholders training conference where they share ideas and thoughts and are also exposed to new knowledge from experts.
He noted that the group believe in upholding the integrity of examinations at all levels “That is the right way to churning out total and globally competitive students for further studies and the world of work in the future,” he added.
He said there is a high tendency for schools where quality teaching and learning are not taking place to compromise standards, particularly in examinations.
According to Obalakun, LEAMSP has zero tolerance for examination malpractice and other untoward behaviours among member schools be it at the primary and secondary school levels .
He claimed that though there might had been cases of examinations malpractice at any of the LEAMSP member-schools, the situation had been brought almost to zero level among them as stiff sanctions await any school found culpable.
He said that is why the group formed its own examination body known as LEAMSP Examination Council (LEC) to, among others, serve as a mock examination body for students of member schools and other willing students from other private and public schools across the country.
He said the examination body established in 2004 had been very helpful in this regard, adding that the council has moved away from a paper and pen examination format to a computer-based examination format since 2017.
Delivering a lecture at the event, the guest speaker from the Federal College of Education (Technical) Yaba, Lagos, Monsurat Mosaku, said students should always be measured not only by academic performance, but also by moral values.
She said: “Preparing students to become agents of positive change in the society even from now is all encompassing and beyond mere scoring of high grades in examinations.”
She therefore commended the leadership of LEAMSP for frequently upgrading its members’ knowledge and skills which would in turn enhance their performance on their critical roles of producing future leaders.
She advised them not to deviate from the path they are on, saying the benefits transcend the education sector.