Maryam Akinloye
Some concerned residents and parents of the students attending Odogunyan Junior Grammar School, Odongunyan in Ikorodu North Local Council Development Area, have described the report by an online news platform that the school prevented its students from collecting their West African Examination Council (WAEC) Number as untrue and a figment of the reporter’s imagination.
The online news platform had, according to report, reported that students of Odogunyan Junior Grammar School were denied the collection of the WAEC Exam Number by the school.
THE IMPACT newspaper’s attention was drawn to the story by a concerned parent, Mr Adesanya who claimed that his daughter is attending the school.
He subsequently described the online report as false and untrue.
When our reporter visited the school situated along the Odogunyan Industrial Estate road, on Tuesday (today), a verification exercise for the Junior Secondary School (JSS) students was on going.
However, about four teachers on duty turned down our reporter’s request for an audience on the allegation by the online news medium. Not even our reporter’s disclosure that our attention was called to the publication by a parent could make them change their mind.
Our reporter was told that the Principal was available to speak with journalists when requested.
THE IMPACT, however, gathered that the school never asked their students to come for the West Africa Examination Council number for their examination in the first place, let alone to deny them of it since the school is not a WAEC conducting school.
Rather, the school had only asked the students to come for a verification exercise.
It was gathered that only two days (Monday August 17 and Tuesday August 18) were allotted for the verification of about 1000 students in the school.
A source within the school, who spoke with THE IMPACT on condition of anonymity, said:
“We saw this on the media last night and the news is totally incorrect. Our attention was drawn to it by some parents who are also aware that the story is not correct.
“Our School is not a senior school writing WAEC, so we cannot ask them to come for any examination number. In actual fact, the date is yet to be fixed for the JSS3 examination”, the source said.
“Our JSS3 students were asked to come yesterday to verify their details for their BECE exams and the date for the exam hasn’t been announced yet”.
Another parent who brought her child for the verification exercise today because she was told by his daughter that she was sent home yesterday confirmed that the junior secondary school, which occupies a separate compound from the senior secondary school, is only accommodating the JSS 3 students who cannot write WAEC but BECE (Basic Educational Certificate Examination) being organized by the government.
He said that many of the students were not allowed into the school because they did not use facemasks .
“As a result, many of these students came to school for that purpose. Meanwhile, in a bid to observe all necessary precautions regarding the covid-19 prevention, the school told them to come in batches ( 20 at a time), and that ‘no mask, no entry’ rule was also enforced for the exercise.
“My daughter came yesterday for the exercise but she was sent back because she did not use face mask and I have to follow her here today to see things for myself” the parent said.
Another parent, who also spoke with our reporter on the issue, said that some of the pictures used by the said online news medium were pictures of students that were not allowed into the school because they did not use facemasks.
The parent, who live near the school, said that many of the students refused to go back home and decided to hangout with their friends outside the school.
“A lot of them didn’t come with their face/nose masks and as a result, were denied entry into the school premises”, the source said.
“Some of them tried to wait for their friends to borrow their nose masks.
“ln order not to cause unnecessary scenes at the gate, they were told to go back home and do the needful. But as you know, they refused to leave”she explained.
“I guess a random person took advantage of this, took their pictures and sent them to opera news”, the parent said.
Our reporter saw a list of the students pasted on the school wall for students to check their names and pictures and come for corrections in case there is any.
At the time of our visit, students at the Odogunyan Senior Grammar School situated in another compound were writing their WAEC papers.
