The Bauchi government says it will stop sponsoring truant students for external examinations in the state.
The Commissioner for Education, Dr Jamila Dahiru, said this while monitoring schools’ resumption on Wednesday in Bauchi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government had paid N396.9 million for 2023/2024 external examinations for 14,170 indigent students.
They external examinations are: the West African Examination Council (WAEC); the National Examination Council (NECO), National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Dahiru, who frown at the low turnout of students in some schools, added that, “in one of the school visited only 20 per cent of the SS3 students attended classes.
“We just realised that most of these students, after being taught from JSS1 to SS3 and with Gov. Bala Mohammed paying for their external exams, and as soon as they were done with their mock exams, they left school and won’t return until the first day of their external exams.
“It is sad to acknowledge that we are not responsible as parents because I want to believe that they have parents who are seeing them attending schools simply because they are getting ready to just write their external examinations.
“We want to make them come back to class, we want to emphasise that we are investing in the right people because it is just telling us that it is the government that bothers about their education while they don’t care and probably their parents that are allowing them to stay at home also don’t care.
“If they don’t care, we want to channel our energy to those that care. That is why I gave a directive that each and every child that we are sponsoring must be in school throughout this term before they commence their examination.
“If they don’t want to come to prepare so that they can pass with ease, then we should give those that are ready by revoking theirs and that’s why we are emphasising that the parents are responsible,” she said.
Dahiru also enjoined teachers to shun truancy and lateness, adding that defaulters would be sanctioned.
She said that teachers must report on duty by 7:30 a.m., warning that the government would not condone lateness.
“The school managements are to strictly monitor and ensure compliance of the national standard for teaching and learning. Therefore, any teacher found guilty, we will take action”. (NAN)
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