The Kogi State House of Assembly has called for abolition of the Transition Examination from Junior Secondary School (JSS) to Senior Secondary School (SSS) classes in schools across the state.
The assembly made the call in a resolution following the adoption of a motion calling on the state government to abolish multiple examination system being operated by the state Ministry of Education and its agencies.
Mr Linus Eneche (PDP-Olamaboro), who moved the motion at the plenary in Lokoja, said that the transition examination had no relevance and any direct impact on the educational development of students.
Eneche said that the education ministry, vested with the mandate of providing policy framework for smooth operation of the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, ought to take cognisance of resources available to parents and guardians.
He frowned at what he described as “exploitative duplication of examinations” in secondary education in the state “all in the name of preparing the pupils for WAEC, NECO or NAPTEB”.
“We have secondary examinations as the Transition Examination, Mock Examination, WAEC, NECO and Promotional Examination from SS2 to SS3.
“These examinations take place simultaneously, paid for and in most cases, not marked.”
Eneche said that the transition examination, which was a duplication of the third term promotion examination, was introduced when the state government took over payment of WAEC fees as instrument for selecting candidates.
“Whereas the Kogi State Government has already withdrawn its sponsorship of candidates for the aforementioned examination (WAEC), coupled with the economic realities of recession at the micro and macro levels, this examination is no longer feasible”, he said.
He urged government to reduce the burden on parents in view of the prevailing economic and social realities which had made it impossible for them to pay for transition examination, Mock, WAEC NECO and three terminal examinations within one year.
Seconding the motion, Hassan Abdullahi (APC-Dekina-Okura) said that the transition examination, among many others, had no value.
He said that constituents had often confronted state legislators with requests to assist with payment of WAEC and NECO fees.
Supporting the motion, Sunday Shigaba (PDP-Bassa) said that the psychological effect of stopping or withholding a student from writing an examination on account of his parents’ inability to pay the fees could be traumatic.
In his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Alhaji Umar Imam, agreed that the burden on civil servants with more than one child in schools to pay all the fees in one fell swoop was enormous. (NAN)
