The Lagos State government, on Thursday, said it paid a total sum of N4.2 billion as the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) fees for students in four years.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said this in Ikeja, at the ministerial session of the 67th National Council on Education (NCE) meeting, with the theme: ”Addressing the Challenges of Policy Implementation: A Panacea for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda.”

The governor, who was represented by the commissioner for primary and basic education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, said the government had not defaulted in the payment of WAEC fees for all public school students in SS3.

He said the payment of the examination fee was a policy which commenced in 2000 when President Bola Tinubu was the Lagos State Governor.

According to him, the intervention started with N200 million in 2000 but metamorphosed into a financial commitment of over N1 billion yearly.

”In the last four years, we have paid over N4.2 billion to keep our promise of full payment of West African Senior School Certificate Examination fees for our public school students, to ensure no student is left behind in the secondary school level of education,” he said.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said easy access to education was another area of focus for the government, irrespective of gender or capability.

He said the government introduced free education at the primary and secondary level with the enactment of the Lagos Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Law of 2005.

The governor said the law set out a policy to provide free, compulsory, universal basic education for every child of primary and secondary school age and required parents and guardians to ensure that children of school age in their care attended school.

He said this had been yielding the desired result as the sector had continued to see an increase in the number of children in those levels of learning.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the sector had also continued to see an increase in the number of schools in developing/rural areas of the state.

He said with the government’s approval, a total of six secondary schools were established between January and November in order to encourage easy access to secondary education.

The governor said the adults were not left behind as 21 new adult literacy centres were added to the existing ones.

“We equally established two new universities, the Lagos State University of Education and the Lagos State University of Technology. All these efforts are geared towards expanding the choices of our teeming children and adolescent population.

“These aforementioned policies have attracted many pupils and students from all over the country. All the states in Nigeria are represented in all our public school students’ registers.

“Through our Project Zero Programme, we have reduced the rate of out-of-school children by reabsorbing a total of 11,957 pupils back to school and providing them with uniforms.

“There is no gainsaying that a nation’s socio-economic development rests squarely on the quality of education given to her children.

“This august body must, therefore, ensure appropriate strategies and policies are put forward for effective and efficient policy implementation throughout the federation,” he said.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said as a responsive government, his administration had invested in digital devices in continuation of the agenda to seamlessly fuse education and technology and upgrade the educational system to meet the world standard.

He said as part of efforts to improve teaching and learning in the primary and secondary schools across the state, the government had inaugurated over 1,449 projects, covering 1,036 schools across all 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs.

The governor said these projects included construction, renovation, and rehabilitation of dilapidated public schools and the supply of composite units of furniture to schools, among other infrastructure projects.

(NAN)