By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Osogbo – Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, has called on West African Examination Council (WAEC) to intensify its war against ‘miracle centres’ in order to eradicate exam malpractices in the country.
Oyetola made the call during a courtesy visit by members of the council in his office in Osogbo on Wednsday.
“I want to also commend you for rising up to the issue of ‘Miracle Centres’, also popularly known as ‘Special Centres’. It is the bane of education now,” the governor said.
Oyetola said that the public must realise that miracle centres were only synonymous or found among some churches and not in the education sector.
He commended the council for showing concern on the issue as well as taking further steps in sanctioning offenders.
“Nobody should be spared. We want zero tolerance to any form of examination malpractice in the country.
“As a governnent, we want to assure WAEC of our support in the best posible way we can,” Gov. Oyetola said.
He said that WAEC had recorded remarkable achievements in its bid to ensure zero tolerance to examination malpractice and stressed the need to sustain the tempo for the benefit and development of the nation.
He also promised to collaborate with the council in the area of training and retraining of Osun teachers, as regular training of teachers remained critical in advancing the education sector.
“I realise that some teachers could have taught for 20 years without any form of training and we do not want such for this state.
“It is therefore on this premise that I urge you to work with our Ministry of Education to see how we can collaborate to train our teachers.
“It is time we also encourage our children to embrace hardwork as it is only through hardwork that success is achieved. There is no cutting corners, no miracle centre,” he stressed.
Earlier in his address, the council’s outgoing Head, WAEC National Office in Nigeria, Mr Olu Adenipekun, lauded the governor for the reception accorded his delegation and the support the council was recieving from the state.
He assured the governor of collaboration with the the state in the fight against examination malpractice.
(NAN)