Consistent delay in release of Common Entrance Exams result raises concerns

* Late Resumption Has Negative Consequences On Pupils, Learning Outcomes – Educationists

When Ifenna Onyema, a primary six pupil of a state-owned primary school wrote the 2021 Lagos State Common Entrance Examination for admission into state-owned Junior Secondary School (JSS) 1, he did not know that he would wait for about five months before being offered a place to commence secondary education. 
But while waiting to be admitted, academic activities in both private and public secondary continued, and the first term of the new academic session was nearing its end. 

Interestingly, Mrs. Onyema explained that she found out that “all the pupils resumed reasonably late. But I also observed that the state government gave preference to those who wrote the examination from public primary schools.”
 
Another parent, Mr. David Obinna, whose son also wrote the examination in 2021, confirmed that his son also “lost a term” as a result of the delay, stressing that it was unfair for examination results to be delayed until a few weeks before the end of the first term. 
 
“It is unfair for pupils who wrote the placement entrance examination to be at home when others are going to school. My child was hanging around in the compound when other children were going to school.”
Because of the unfortunate development, Obinna while complaining to the head teacher, threaten that his other children in the school may not write the examination there because of the delay in the arrival of the result.  
 
This year, the same scenario yet again played out, as many pupils who wrote the placement examination only got placed in their new schools months after their counterparts that headed to private schools resumed lectures. 
 Many parents, teachers, school managers, and other stakeholders are worried about the sloppy release of common entrance examination results in the past. This is against the backdrop that it takes only a few weeks for the results of similar examinations into modern colleges to be released. 
  
The stakeholders lamented that the delayed release, which is becoming the norm in the state, has dire consequences on the pupils’ early life in secondary schools, including a negative effect on learning in the first term. 

 Peter Omonigho Dugbo, another educationist while also commenting stated that students who return to classes too late often experience a loss of connection, which can result in behavioural issues and dropouts.
  
“The social experience has a significant impact on a child’s feelings about school, and his or her capacity to succeed academically. Classmates who are late have a bad effect on their teachers and other students. Teachers frequently have to reorganise their lessons or repeat the teaching of missing material because tardy pupils must be given the opportunity to make up their work.
  
“Additionally, tardiness diverts other students’ attention from a teacher’s lesson; a child who has just arrived draws attention away from the teacher, or assignment. Classmates may begin to criticise these youngsters over time, impacting how they feel about themselves at school. Adolescents are extremely concerned with fitting in and being accepted by their classmates. If a child is consistently late, they may become a target or outcast over time, and unpleasant peer relationships might impair their ability to focus on learning, thereby increasing behavioural issues and causing lost learning,” Dugbo said.
 
“The school authority should emphasise students’ early resumption as late resumption hurts their (student’s) academic performance and overall wellbeing,” he concluded.