Sanwo-Olu to introduce PIN for education reform

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said he will introduce Personal Identification Numbers for pupils in Lagos schools as part of reforms in the education sector.

He said the move would help government measure the progress of pupils, adding that the data would also be used for the efficient implementation of education policies and budget.

A statement on Monday said Sanwo-Olu spoke at a meeting with the Joint Association of Private Schools in Lagos State.

The APC candidate said his government would partner proprietors of privately-owned basic and secondary schools to scale up the quality of teaching and learning.

Sanwo-Olu said the PIN would also discourage irregular transfer of pupils from one school to another, a development, he said, had impact on the cognitive development of children.

He said, “It is time we sanitised education in the state and secured the future of our children. We want to improve the quality, but it won’t be done until we know the specific number of pupils in a school and the number of teachers in that school. We will introduce a unique PIN for each pupil from which we can monitor the educational progress of the pupil and properly plan for the cognitive development of such a child. The act of transferring pupils irregularly from one school to another would also be monitored through this PIN.”

Sanwo-Olu frowned on the allegation of multiple taxation raised by the private schools’ proprietors, promising that his government would stop the act if true.

The JAPSIL chairperson, Dr Olufemi Ogunsanya, promised to work with the APC candidate to achieve his programmes.