The Lagos State Ministry of Education has said that private schools were not included in the free payment of the 2019 Basic Education Certificate Examination.
The Point newspaper gathered that it became expedient to clarify the position of the state government when parents of Junior Secondary School 3 students in private schools who will sit for the 2019 Basic Education Certificate Examination asked that the money earlier paid for their children examination should be refunded.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education in Lagos, Mrs Adebunmi Adekanye, in a media chat in her office said, “This clarification is necessary to educate parents and guidance of children and wards in private secondary schools who have been visiting the Lagos State Examinations Board to say that the fees of all students have been paid by the state government and are requesting refund of the fees paid by them.”
She said although the government is interested in all the students and wants all of them to get the best of education that the public and private sector can provide, the payment of examination fees was limited to public schools.
The Permanent Secretary, however, assured the parents that the government would ensure that parents of students in private schools were not extorted by the private school operators and public officials.
It will be recalled that in furtherance of the free education policy of the state government, all terminal examinations such as BECE and West Africa Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE) are fully paid for by the government for public schools students in the state to relieve parents of the burden of high fees.
Adekanye urged public school students and parents to report any official of government who ask them to pay for the examination for prompt intervention.
