The Lagos State Examination Board has said it cannot guarantee the authenticity of a First School Leaving Certificate obtained from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
The board’s response to a verification request sent by Civic Media Lab, a non-profit media foundation, came 10 weeks after the request was made. The request was part of an investigation into certificate fraud within the Lagos State Ministry of Education and various malfeasances in National and the State Common Entrance Examinations in the state.
The verification request was sent on August 20, 2018 after one Ajenifuja Kazeem, a staff member of SUBEB, arranged a back-door FSLC for our correspondent who had approached SUBEB for enquiry on how to get a First School Leaving Certificate.
However, the board failed to verify the certificate until the investigation was published on Thursday, October 11, 2018.
Following the publication, a female staff member of the examination board called on Friday, October 12, 2018, to inform our correspondent that the result of the verification was now ready.
In the letter dated October 10, 2018, the board said following its investigation, it “cannot guarantee the authenticity of the First School Leaving Certificate presented by Robert Debroah Funmilayo”.
This is no surprised as both the name and the school on the certificate were made up for the purpose of the investigation. Although the Board has now said it “cannot guarantee the authenticity of the certificate”, the Lagos State government has kept mum on the crux of the investigation, which revealed the porosity of the Lagos State education system.
The multimedia investigation revealed how schools in Lagos State brazenly sell certificates and testimonials. It also revealed, among other things, how government invigilators connived with teachers and parents to aid and abet cheating during National and State Common Entrance Examinations.
At Government College in Victoria Island, one of the centres for the National Common Entrance, the investigation revealed cases of impersonation and mass cheating.
The same malfeasances were unearthed at various centres, during the Lagos State organised Common Entrance Examination, also known as placement test.