By Owen Akenzua, Asaba
Controversy has erupted over alleged malpractice in the recently concluded basic certificate examination in Delta state.
Officials of the state Ministry of
Secondary and Basic Education and Proprietor of Skyset Group of Schools, Mr Carl Ofonyen are accusing each other over alleged examination malpractice in the state.
The Public Relations officer of the Ministry, Mr Oghenero Orovwuje in a statement issued last Friday in Asaba, accused Carl Ofonyen of allegations of examination malpractice involving officials of the ministry and secondary schools in the state.
“The attention of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education has been drawn to the one man protest carried out by one Carl Ofonyen, Proprietor of Skyset Group of Schools in Okpanam to Examinations and Standards Department of the Ministry.
“Ofonyen allegations that officials of the Ministry aided and abetted examination malpractice in Oruchi Comprehensive Secondary School, Okpanam examination centre during the just concluded Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and two officials of the Ministry colluded with School Heads in public schools to collect unauthorized levies, are spurious and frivolous”, Orovwuje said.
He stated that a total of 84,646 candidates from 462 public secondary schools and 781 private secondary schools sat for the examination in 630 centers across the state and that the examination was conducted under the watchful eyes of 1,462 invigilators,630 supervisors and numerous monitors.
“Skyset Group of Schools was one of the four schools that wrote the examination at Oruchi Comprehensive Secondary School Okpanam center and in line with the rules and regulations, so where did Ofonyen get the malpractice’?, he querried.
But Ofonyen protested on Thursday that classes were assigned exclusively to some schools while alleging discrimination against his school.
He called for the cancellation of the examination on the ground that the only nine candidates that sat for the examination from his school were purportedly discriminated against.
“Officials of the ministry of Basic and Secondary Education colluded with school heads to collect unauthorized levies from pupils and students and it was a moment of money making process and my school refused to be part of the unauthorized levies and the Officials discriminated against us”, he alleged.
