Lagos mulls ‘very high’ cut off marks for Model Colleges

The Lagos State Education Commissioner, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, has said the cut-off marks for the Entrance Examination into the JSS1 classes in its 16 junior model colleges and upgraded secondary schools for the 2020/2021 academic session would be very high as the state would have to admit fewer pupils to maintain COVID-19 protocols.

To this end, she charged the candidates who took the Computer Based Test (CBT) option of the examination on Saturday to put their best into the examination.

Mrs. Adefisayo, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mrs. Abosede Adelaja, at the flag-off of the entrance examination, also said the state would migrate fully to CBT by next year.

Addressing the first batch of the 47 candidates scheduled for the CBT examination on Saturday, Mrs. Adefisayo said: “This year is peculiar, so the cut-off mark is going to be very high because we have space for few. Try to put your best in this examination,” she said.

Regarding migrating the examination fully to CBT, Adefisayo said Lagos was the first state to conduct CBT at primary school level, starting from 2015 with 17 candidates. With the number growing to 210 this year, the Commissioner said it was evidence of the growing popularity of CBT.

She challenged officials of the state-owned examining body, the Lagos State Examinations Board, led by Mr. Olasupo Gbadegesin, to begin working towards 100 per cent CBT by next year.

She said: “I want to challenge the Director and other officials to start working on the possibility that next year, it will be CBT only. JAMB did it and we can too.”

Mrs. Adefisayo said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had provided the board with more funds to procure generators and scanners towards meeting the goal.

Director of the board, Mr. Gbadegesin, said the CBT examination would end on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 – with two batches taking the examination daily.

He said candidates who chose the Paper Pencil Test (PPT) option for the examination would write in 56 centres across the state’s six education districts on October 3, 2020.

He said the centres had been increased to ensure the candidates maintain physical and social distancing.

“In the past we used to have 41 centres but for physical and social distancing this year, we will have 56 centres,” he said.

Speaking on efforts towards migrating to CBT next year, Gbadegesin said: “We have been visiting schools with facilities; we have also been to JKK. By the grace of God, we will continue and come next year, there would be great improvement,” he said.