THE Lagos State Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) on Monday commenced school resumption monitoring exercise in public and private schools below the tertiary level in Lagos State.
The Coordinating Director of OEQA, Mr Remi Abdul, who led the team on the monitoring exercise, stated that the exercise was to ascertain the level of compliance with Government directives on school resumption, the readiness and preparedness of both teachers and learners for the new term, and to ensure that schools are safe and conducive to teaching and learning.
According to Abdul, the Honourable Commissioner of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun has directed that all public schools below the tertiary level in Lagos State must have a universal timetable to improve learning outcomes. 
Abdul also stated that as part of measures put in place by Alli-Balogun to ensure great improvement in students' external examination performance, Principals and Vice-Principals will commence classroom teaching. He, therefore, advised Principals and Vice-Principals to prepare their lesson notes to aid a smooth teaching and learning process.
He also said that public senior secondary schools would begin early morning and afternoon lessons, which the Office of Education Quality Assurance will closely monitor to further improve students' performances, especially in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Abdul further stated that the Government frowns at mass promotion, noting "Any student that does not meet promotion requirements should not be promoted; you must not lower the standards of promotion for any student. Rather, promotion should be purely based on merit". 
Abdul also said that lateness and absenteeism by teaching and non-teaching staff must not be tolerated by the school management henceforth, and anyone found wanting must be sanctioned. He said all hands must be on deck to raise the bar of education in Lagos State.
Earlier, the Director of Monitoring and Investigation, OEQA, Mr Kamardeen Akodu said, "We are going out to monitor this exercise to confirm if there is an improvement in the level of compliance by schools, which, before now, was a little above average, we also look towards an improvement in this as those who have not complied in the past had been warned and sanctioned and we hope to see an improved compliance level this time".
He also said that the exercise is meant to ascertain the level of safety preparedness of the school managers for the children, saying that the Government lays much emphasis on safeguarding and child protection in schools.
In addition, he said the monitoring team will also check the teaching and statutory records of schools to ensure that every vital information is recorded in preparation for the new term. He said the exercise, which commenced on Monday, January 6, 2025, is scheduled for 10 days and will cover all six education districts in Lagos State.
The members of the monitoring include the Coordinating Director of Education District I, Mr Femi Ejiwunmi; the Director of the Quality Assurance Department, Mr Taofik Ajibade; the Zonal Director of Alimosho Zone, Mrs Funmi Okunade, and the Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Ms Adepeju Adeyemi, amongst others.
The team visited some of the schools in Alimosho Local Government, including Estate Junior and Senior Grammar Schools, Ipaja; Platform College, Ikola; African Church Primary Schools I and II and Community Primary School, Meiran.
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