Education Policy Oversight

Education Policy Oversight

Education Policy and Oversight remains a core mandate of the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, providing the strategic, regulatory, and governance backbone for the entire sector. Through this function, the Ministry gives clear policy direction, sets enforceable standards, and uses data-driven oversight to ensure that schools, programmes, and partners operate within the State Government’s vision for inclusive, technology-enabled, and high-quality education.

A central pillar of this mandate is the Ogun State Education Revitalisation Agenda (OGSERA) and its operational engine, the Digital Platform for Education Revitalisation (DiPER). DiPER is a secure, cloud-based education management platform that coordinates key school processes—screening tests, admissions into flagship schools, inter-school transfers, examination results and teacher recruitment—while providing real-time analytics to improve teaching and learning outcomes. This represents a deliberate policy shift from paper-based administration to a unified, digital system for governance and accountability.

Another flagship policy initiative under this core service is the Learner Identification Number (LIN). Ogun State has introduced a mandatory, unique LIN for every learner in both public and private schools, to track each child’s educational journey, curb examination malpractice and ensure that enrolment figures match available classroom capacity. The LIN is now a prerequisite for registering candidates for WASSCE and BECE, and is issued at the point of entry in Primary One, thereby standardising records from the foundation years.

Closely linked to the LIN policy is a broader data governance and transfer framework. The Ministry has formally reviewed procedures for learner data updates and inter-state transfers on the OGSERA/DiPER platform, limiting how often records can be modified, tightening verification before approving transfers, and warning schools against manipulation of learner profiles. These measures are explicitly designed to “curb anomalies,” uphold due process and ensure uniform, accurate learner records across public and private schools.

Education Policy and Oversight also provides the framework for merit-based access and quality assurance in flagship schools. The Ministry conducts central screening examinations and publishes school-specific cut-off marks for admission into 41 Junior flagship secondary schools and 4 combined flagship schools, based on performance data and school capacity. It initially set the class size at a maximum of 60 learners, with the long-term objective of reducing it to no more than 40 per class. It has also prohibited admission through backdoor transfers, and warned that any principal involved in sharp practices will face sanctions. This is a clear policy stance that flagship institutions must be models of fairness, transparency and manageable class sizes.

Regulation of the wider system, particularly private schools, is another core expression of policy and oversight. The Ministry has restated that all schools must comply with the approved academic calendar, onboard learners onto OGSERA/DiPER, register eligible JSS3 learners for BECE through official channels, and desist from double promotions and unapproved practices. The Commissioner has publicly warned that non-compliant schools risk closure, underscoring that private provision of education must still operate within the state’s regulatory framework.

At the human-resource level, policy and oversight guide the teacher workforce strategy, exemplified by the Ogun State Teaching Experience Acquisition Channel (OgunTEACh) scheme. OgunTEACh is a structured intervention programme to fill vacancies in public primary, secondary and technical schools through a transparent, portal-based recruitment of qualified interns, with clear criteria for eventual absorption into permanent service. Recent recruitment rounds attracted tens of thousands of applicants vying for 2,000 positions, while the Ministry has simultaneously reaffirmed the free-education policy at primary and secondary levels and announced scholarship schemes to support learners.

Taken together, these initiatives show that Education Policy and Oversight in Ogun State is not an abstract function; it is an active, structured and enforceable system that defines rules, embeds digital tools, protects learners and ensures that all other services—curriculum, school management, technology, infrastructure, funding and welfare—operate within a coherent, law-abiding and data-driven framework.