No fewer than 3,700 students from Senior Secondary (SS) classes two and three, on Wednesday began writing the National Senior Secondary Education Commission’s (NSSEC) Monitoring of Learners Achievement (MLA) examination in Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary (ES) of NSSEC, Dr. Iyela Ajayi, disclosed this to newsmen at the sideline of the nationwide examinations in Kaduna.
He said the examination was going on simultaneously across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.
Ajayi, represented by Fatima Bappare, Head, Public Relations and Protocol of NSSEC, said MLA was an annual examination aimed at testing the capabilities of students on mathematics and English language.
He said that MLA was a tool to evaluate the achievement of learners through a series of assessments and provide an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of an educational system.
Ajayi equally said the examination was used by education policy makers and planners to identify appropriate policies for improving the quality of education, aimed at building and strengthening an educational system.
The executive secretary said that one of the aims of the exercise was to provide objective data on the students’ progress and curriculum effectiveness.
He emphasised that Mathematics and English language were not only required for academic progression, but were also fundamental skills that learners would continue to apply in all
areas of life.
Ajayi explained that Mathematics aids logical thinking, problem-solving and analytical skills,
while English Language enables effective communication, comprehension and access to information.
He said NSSEC had made strides in the training and re-training of
teachers and their teaching methods in English Language and Mathematics.
Ajayi said without consistent and effective monitoring of learning achievements in the subjects, it might be challenging to fully understand if the teaching methods were effective.
He said MLA helped the commission to identify learning gaps, evaluate the effectiveness of teaching strategies and adapt to meet the changing needs of students.
“The exercise will cover 3,700 learners in SS2 and SS3 in the 36 states and FCT. They include 100 learners, 50 from SS2 and 50 from SS3, who will be assessed in each state of the federation,” he said.
Ajayi thanked all the stakeholders who had contributed to the success of the exercise.
About 25 public and private schools participated in the examination.
The schools included: Government Secondary School (GSS) Kawo, Maimuna Gwarzo, Rimi College, GSS Kakuri, GSS Independence Way, Uncle Bado Memorial College, Setup Model School and Abdulrazak Academy, among others.
NAN