Delta Govt Cautions Teachers against Use of Students for Menial Jobs

Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Chief Patrick Ukah, has warned heads of public secondary schools in the state to stop engaging their students in 'labour exercise' or menial work just before the commencement of their examinations.

Ukah gave the warning after rounding off his state-wide tour to monitor the conduct of 2019 promotion examination across the state, which ended last Friday.

He expressed shock that students who were scheduled to take their examinations by 9a.m. were being engaged by some school authorities in menial labour exercise before writing the examinations, noting that that would stress out the children and negatively affect their performance in the examination due of fatigue.

The commissioner, however, advised the principals of the affected schools to come up with a better strategy to engage the students in labour exercise at the beginning of each term or after the examination.

Ukah also cautioned school heads to desist from collecting money from students to buy sheets of paper to write examinations, advising that the students should rather be made to provide them for the school authorities to stamp for authentication.

The education commissioner, who also frowned at the shortage of question papers for examination in some of the schools, directed that it should be investigated and a report be sent to his office this week.

Relatedly, Ukah charged heads of public schools in the state to adhere strictly to approved guidelines in the conduct of examinations in the state.

He gave the charge when he monitored the conduct of the 2019 promotion examination in public primary and secondary schools in Isoko North and Isoko South Local Government Areas last week.

At Aradhe Grammar School in Aradhe, Isoko North Local Government Area, the commissioner frowned at the non-availability of examination question papers as at 9:20 a.m. for an examination that was to start at 9:00 a.m.

He therefore directed that examination supervisors should be at the custody centres by 7a.m. to collect examination question papers for timely distribution to different schools.

The case of late commencement of the examination was the same when Ukah visited Iluelogbo Grammar School, Owhelogbo, in the same local government area.

However, he cautioned the principal of the school on late commencement of the exercise, noting that such delay might give room for malpractice, including leakage of the examination question papers.

The commissioner's team also visited Emiye Girls Grammar School and Emore Grammar School both in Oleh, where he commended the principals of the schools for the timely conduct of the examination and urged them not to relent in their efforts in bringing the much needed development in the education sector.