The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has banned 47 secondary schools accused of aiding and abetting examination malpractice in Kogi State, from serving as centres for its examinations.

The Kogi Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, who disclosed this during a press conference in Lokoja on Tuesday, said that government recently received a letter to that effect from WAEC.

She said that the indicted schools comprised of private and public secondary schools scattered across the state.

According to her, 13 of the secondary schools have been identified to be notorious for various examination malpractice since they were licensed in 2002.

The commissioner said that the schools, with the connivance of some unscrupulous elements in the education sector, had been giving the state a bad image through their action.

Osikoya said that the indicted secondary schools would receive additional sanctions from the state government.

She expressed dissatisfaction with the state’s rating as number one in examination malpractice, saying that her ministry was determined to reverse the negative trend.

As part of the ongoing efforts to reform the education sector, she stated that government had updated the policy framework while the boards of science and technical education had been merged for effective performance.

Osikoya disclosed that budgetary allocation to education sector had been increased consistently in the past two years as part of the reforms.

She said that the state government was currently partnering with the National Teachers Institute to re-train over 100 teachers, and expressed optimism that the measure would improve their capacities and enhance service delivery.