The governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has ordered that six officials of the state Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, including a secondary school teacher be relieved of their duties over an allegedly offensive examination question.
The allegedly controversial essay from an English exam reads;
“Many schools run by the government, which were formerly known for academic excellence have suddenly lost their prestige and are living on past glories. No wonder, many parents and guardians are threateningly left with only one option, to withdraw their wards from these schools to other ones that are better managed.
“The evidences to show that the government is not doing enough to assist in the development of education are many. Even pupils in both primary and secondary schools can volunteer a good list on their finger tips.
“One of the numerous indications is the government’s inability to pay running cost to schools. The running cost is the token amount per pupil paid to school administrators to run the affairs of the school in a term. This has been neglected to pile up for several academic sessions.
“Another one is the regular poor conduct of terminal examinations. These examinations are not usually conducted as and when due. The government may have one excuse or the other, but real educationists know that appropriate timing is a strong factor in the process of Continuous Assessment (CA) of students. Thus, a situation, where for instance, the first term examination is shifted to second term is an outright departure from the norms and ethics of Continuous Assessment.”
The essay was is said to be a thinly veiled reference to Ibikunle Amosun’s administration as well as its policies on education.
However, The Ogun state Head of Service, Mrs. Modupe Adekunle, insisted that the Ogun state government acted within the ambit of the law “because the affected officials were given opportunity to defend themselves.”
“I am aware that not all of them were dismissed, some had their appointment terminated and some were compulsorily retired.” She said
“When the issue came up, the state government put in the necessary process, a panel was set up to investigate and based on their recommendations, the state Civil Service Commission has to decide. It is a decision that has been relayed to the affected officers.
“The normal process was that a panel was set up, the report was forwarded to the Civil Service Commission for the civil servants, the Teaching Service Commission, for the teachers.
“The decision was in line with the civil service rule, due process was followed to the latter.”