Why APC wrestled Fayose over NECO exams results
Fayemi deserves credit for students’ success – APC
No, Fayose’s efforts brought victory – Govt
From WOLE BALOGUN, Ado-Ekiti
the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ekiti State, is currently wrestling with Governor Ayo Fayose over who gets the credit for the success of the state in the last National Examination Council (NECO). The NECO result had indicated that the state came first with 96.48 percent Edo State was second with 96.31 percent, while Abia and Kogi states jointly clinched the third position.
The Fayose administration claimed the credit for the students’ brilliant performance, with the governor saying the education sector was in comatose as at the time he assumed power on October 16, 2014. The APC is also claiming the credit, saying it was a fruit of the reform of former governor Kayode Fayemi, now the Minister of Solid Mineral Resources.
The state came 17th in the 2015 WAEC results, representing 37 percent success. It came 35th in 2014, 28th in 2013 and 22nd in 2012. The percentage of failure recorded ranges from 75 percent in 2014, 44.55 percent in 2013 and 35.75 percent in 2012.
Whereas, in 2015, when the Fayose-led administration began to invest in the state’s education, part of which was the convocation of an Education Summit, the percentage of success recorded improved. In the results released by WAEC for 2016, Ekiti placed 11th, with 8,954 out of its 21,333 candidates obtaining credits in five subjects and above including English Language and Mathematics.
Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Jide Egunjobi, who hinged the performance on the efforts of Fayose, highlighted some steps taken that led to the performance, to include: improvement in capacity building for core subjects’ teachers in public secondary schools, introduction of 28 monitoring and supervision teams that did intensive job in monitoring and supervision of teachers and the various sensitization meetings held with stakeholders in educational sector gave the state the result.
He said government approved the intervention coaching for all SS3 students in public secondary schools and the release of school improvement grants to the secondary schools assisted greatly in the provision of laboratory equipment for science practicals. He disclosed that Fayose’s priority on the welfare of teachers, introduction of open day in public schools and cooperation of the parents really also helped.
Egunjobi attributed the success to the efforts the governor put in supporting education, saying so far the administration has committed a total of N411.7m to pay a total of 5,130 core subject teachers under the new scheme. He said the governor was particularly happy that no fewer than 37 percent of the state candidates who sat for WAEC in 2016 had minimum of five credits including English and Mathematics while similar feat was recorded in 2015.
Comparing the summary of analysis, breakdown as well as statistics of the results in the last five years, precisely from 2012 to 2016, the state candidates performed significantly better in 2015 and 2016 than in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The commissioner said the state presented 13,690 candidates in 2015, while in 2016, 21,333 candidates were presented, out of which 8,954 recorded more than five credit passes including English and Mathematics.
Excited Fayose said he dedicated the feat to the teachers, adding that it was not only a policy somersault for Fayemi to have removed Fountain of Knowledge as the state sobriquet and replaced it with Land of Honour, adding that since the removal of the slogan, the fortune of the state in education began to decline:
“We would have got to this level earlier than now. During my first term in office, we moved from 35th position in WAEC and NECO to eighth and seventh and we were on the verge of coming tops before I was removed from office. We thank God that we have got to this great height now. I am assuring all that we won’t relent and we will maintain the standard. We are going to come first in WAEC as well.
“Our appreciation and motivation of teachers will continue. We are paying the Core Subject Allowance and during this year’s Teachers’ Day, the best teachers in primary and secondary school levels will still go home with brand new cars like we used to do. This is a great gift for the state as we mark the 20th anniversary of the creation of our state.”
The state chairman of All Nigerian Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Mr. Biodun Omotoso, said the governor’s commitment to improving the sector really paid off: “We have a teacher-friendly governor and the NECO feat is a reflection of all the efforts of His Excellency since he assumed office. We had an education summit last year and all the recommendations were made by us, stakeholders, and were fully implemented.
“Intervention programmes such as giving grants to schools, provision of laboratory equipment, the introduction of mock examination for final year students, extra classes even on Saturdays were introduced and we were also given a compendium of past examinations for students to go through.
“Before Governor Fayose came back, there was a policy mistrust between teachers and the government. We were not sure of whether our jobs would be taken from us, but you came to office and gave us hope and rest of mind. Today, we are seen as partners not as mere employees that could be thrown away like refuse.”
However, the state Director of Publicity of the APC Taiwo Olatunbosun, said for Fayose to have ascribed the success story to himself was a misnomer: “I won’t be surprised and it is equally expected as usual that government will make noise as usual to deceive the people, claiming the glory of what they have not done. This is not the last time that the present administration will be laying claim to the credit of what it has not done
“For example, it happened about a year ago when a financial organisation honoured the state government for preparing a people-oriented budget in 2013-2014. That credit was actually for Fayemi, because he came on board in 2014 October and implemented Fayemi’s budget.
“The preparation of SS3 students for an examination is not an activities of 15 months, it started from JSS1 to 3. Every student who sat for the last NECO were prepared by Fayemi, having been given a solid foundation up to SS2. How could they have claimed credibility for such a period? The credit of good performance should be given to Fayemi and not Fayose.”
He stated that Fayose has the habit of claiming unmerited credit, citing 2014 budget by Fayemi that was adjudged the most effective and transparent in Nigeria by an organisation, but which Fayose celebrated as his achievement. He said the feat was attributable to education policy instituted by Fayemi that put life into educational administration and management in the state.
He explained that Fayemi called an education submit to develop a roadmap for quality education, which the former governor implemented to the letters, saying the foundation laid by the administration created environment for learning as never before, resulting in the latest incredible performance by the students.
He also noted that the current success did not happen overnight but the result of long planning by Fayemi between 2011 and 2014:
“Fayemi gave a laptop per child that exposed them to study online and eradicated miracle centres while providing incentive to teachers, including renovation of schools to enhance good learning environment, and also approved special allowances for core subjects and rural postings for teachers.
“Fayemi’s giant strides in education made Ekiti one of the three states in the federation that benefitted from the World Bank’s $50m State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP).
“He renovated 183 secondary schools and 836 primary schools and provided other incentives, including establishment of remedial colleges to cater for out-of-school students in the 16 local governments, which made the state to record 52 percent credit pass in English and Mathematics in 2013 while the state also won many firsts in various quiz competitions in the same year, topping it with a student from Ikere High School who won the best male student in WAEC.
“He delivered books worth N6million to the State Library Board to encourage reading culture among teachers and students. He promoted no fewer than 4,000 primary school teachers between 2010 and 2014, including head teachers and deputy head teachers, some of whom were demoted by Fayose upon assumption of office.”
“Teachers benefited from the relativity pay for all categories of workers in the public service and also benefited from the 27.5 percent Teachers Pecuniary Allowance, while Ekiti was the first in the South West to implement the relativity pay, bringing the minimum wage from N7,500 to N19,300 without owing teachers salaries.
“Fayemi’s administration was continuously organising training programmes for the teachers, while 400 motorcycles were distributed to teachers serving in rural areas, even as he distributed 20,000 sets of lockers and chairs to public schools.”
