Oyo has moved from 34th to 23rd position in WASC examinations – Ajimobi

As against its 34th position in the May/June 2011 West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations, the recently released results in the examination for 2012 has seen Oyo State jumping from its 34th to the 23rd position.

This was disclosed by the State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi on Wednesday, at the Ibadan Grammar School, during the launch of the maiden Ambassador Olusola Saanu’s Educational Support Foundation.

According to the governor, the remarkable difference in the states’ ranking table was achieved as a result of government’s efforts at changing the state of education inherited by the current administration in the state.

The governor said that even though this was not the state’s desired position as his administration was determined to have Oyo rank as one of the foremost three states on the educational ranking in Nigeria, the result was a leap forward from the ranking inherited by his administration, even as he charged all stakeholders in the education sector in the state to partner with government towards improving the sector.

He said that the steady improvement recorded by the state in the WASC examinations was as a result of the massive investment of government in education and its resolve to prioritize the sector in governmental attention as the years roll by.

According to him, government established extension classes and unified Mock Examination to improve the performance of students, while it had also organized in-training for teachers in the state Primary and Secondary schools, stating that, to date, over 5,000 teachers and 600 Principals had benefitted from the training.

“We have begun the process of rehabilitation of 2,500 classrooms in Primary and Secondary schools in the state, as well as provision of furniture for 150,000 students. We are also strengthening the Inspectorate Division of the ministry by engaging the University of Ibadan for objective and effective supervision,” Ajimobi said.

One of the actions of the state government which ensured the remarkable improvement in students’ results, the governor said, was the directive issued to all Principals to organize extra-mural classes for all Senior Secondary School III students in the state’s public schools.

Ajimobi said the state government had also established a Technical University which he said the state was setting up in partnership with the National Taiwan Technical University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and another university in Dubai.

Breaking the results down, the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Tokunbo Fayokun, while speaking with journalists at the function, said that it was an effort that her ministry hopes to improve upon.

According to her, an analysis of the results of students of public schools in the state between 2010 and 2012 showed remarkable improvements in the key subjects of study in the schools.

“Take for instance in Mathematics, while the 2010 result shows students scoring 15.43%, and in 2011, 13.70%, in 2012, the students scored 26.57%; in Physics, in 2010, the students scored 29.77%, scored 38.9% in 2011 and 53.69% at the recently concluded examinations while the students scored 12.59% in English Language in 2010, 20.30% in 2011 and 23.00% in the recently concluded examinations,” the commissioner said.

The event witnessed Ambassador Saanu donating the sum of N240,000 to Ibadan Grammar School for the employment of French Language teachers for the school, which was presented by Mrs. Fayokun.

Also at the event were Professor Akin Mabogunje, who was chairman of the occasion, Chief Theophilus Akinyele, Dr. Lekan Aare, who delivered a lecture at the occasion, former governor of the state, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, Chief Bode Amoo, Justice Nurudeen Adekola, among others.