Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Kaduna State Govt Spends N85m on NECO Exams Fees

 

The state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Muhammed Usman, said this in an interview in Kaduna.

Usman said the amount was used to pay the fees for all candidates in public and private schools in the state.

Reports say that the examinations were rescheduled following the June 17 bomb attack on Churches in Zaria and Kaduna, and the reprisals that followed which led to the imposition of a curfew in the state.

The cancellation of the examination had left many students in confusion, as NECO was demanding for fresh registration fees before it could reschedule the examination.

The issue was resolved when the state government agreed to shoulder the responsibility and the rescheduled examination was conducted in July this year.

The examination results were however withheld by NECO due to delay in the settlement of the fees by the state government.

The commissioner emphasised that the government would not shirk away from its responsibility of given school aged children unfettered access to education.

Usman attributed the delay in the payment to minor administrative lapses and appealed to parents to continue to support government's efforts in repositioning the education sector.

The proprietor of Gande-Gan schools in Sabo,, Mr Daniel Gandu, commended the effort of the state government for the intervention.

He said that it would have been difficult for parents to access money to re-pay for the NECO examinations.

Meanwhile, an NGO, Diamond-Crest for Youth Education, has attributed youths’ restiveness in the country to poor education, corruption and poverty.

The President of the group noted that with proper education, the lingering religious and tribal conflicts in the country would be resolved.

Onyedi urged the government to include peace building and patriotism in the nation's educational curriculum in line with current security challenges. 

 

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