We’ll not allow any school in Ogun to jettison Nigeria’s curriculum – Commissioner

Ogun government says it will not allow any school in the state, whether private or public, to jettison Nigeria’s educational curriculum in their operations.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, stated this during a quality control monitoring exercise to private schools in Obafemi Owode and Ewekoro local government areas.

Arigbabu said that the exercise was to ensure access to qualitative education for children in the state, in line with the country’s curriculum.

He posited that any school running foreign curriculum to the detriment of Nigeria’s curriculum would be frowned at.

According to Arigbabu, all the schools running foreign curricula are not helping the country’s education sector.

He opined that if such schools could work together with the government to improve the curriculum, it would bring the change required, but not to abandon their country’s programme to uplift others.

“You can blend the best practices of other countries with yours and teach your students,” he said.

The commissioner also said that one of the reasons for the exercise was to go round for partial inspection of schools seeking approval to start operations.

“We have gone round today and we have seen schools that are satisfactory and we have seen some that have not met with the expected standard.

“We will not give any school blanket approval; they have to be on their toes to make sure that they meet up with the standard,” he said.

He noted that private schools were established to complement government efforts in public schools, hence running of private schools should not be seen as mere business.

Responding, Proprietor of Lyceum Montessori College, Laderin in Obafemi Owode council area, Mr Yinka Ola-Williams, applauded the commissioner for making time to visit schools before giving approval.

He said that the exercise was necessary to keep schools vigilant and ensure best practices.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other schools visited by the commissioner included: Beacons College and The Chosen College, both in Obafemi Owode council area.

The commissioner also visited Golden Choice International School, Arigbajo and Al-Ameen Integrated School, Abalabi, both in Ewekoro local government area.