EAC Tasks FG On Change In Education System

THE Educational Advancement Centre (EAC), Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State has called on the Federal Government to imbibe the spirit of continuous change in the education sector, for the betterment of the country.

The Director of EAC, Muyiwa Bamgbose, who stated this at the June Valedictory Service of the Centre, said, “the argument on the system was that the Senior Secondary School (SSS) would be for the academically inclined, while the less endowed will go for technical education after the completion of Junior Secondary School (JSS) examination.”

He noted that since that move, virtually everyone has been passing JSS examination and technical colleges have gone to the grave.

“Sixth form or Advanced Level used to be the decider before. If you could not pass ‘A’ Level, you could not get into the university, unless you were above average and passed the concessional entrance examination into Prelim. That was for the minority, in those days, the campuses were sane.

“Some years ago, we were told that government was considering returning education system to the Sixth form, but was looking for Model Schools to bell the cat. We don’t need Model Schools; they are an aberration and a pipe for siphoning resources. There are over 100 schools in Nigeria running the ‘A’ Level programme; they can absorb anyone who wants to run the programme,’ he said.

Bamgbose who disclosed that the centre alone presents about 500 students for the ‘A’ level Cambridge examination yearly, said there are even local variants of the examination like the IJMB in the North and the recently introduced JUPEB of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).