Kano State government said it would expend a total of N2.9 billion on payments to the National Examination Council (NECO) and the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) for registration for 119, 903 students of the state.
The sate commissioner of education, Umar Haruna Doguwa, disclosed this while briefing journalists in Kano on Thursday.
Doguwa said the State government decided to expand the scope of the sponsorship of the exams to accommodate those who scored 4 credits in qualifying exams representing 83% of the students for NECO and 94% for NBAIS far higher than the 34% of the students that benefitted the previous year.
He said “The total cost of the money that will be expended on this cause for conventional secondary schools is N2,664, 856, 750; for Arabic and Islamic Schools is N245, 826, 000. Grand Total is N2, 910, 682, 780. We took this decision bearing in mind that each student with four credits can secure admission in so many schools in the country. So, we cannot waste them.”
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Four Credits Pass
He noted that the government traditionally sponsored students with six credits including English and Mathematics or in the alternate those who obtained eight credits in any subjects.
Doguwa, however, said Governor Yusuf made it possible for all students with four credits in the qualifying exams to be sponsored by the state government.
“His excellency, Gov Abba Kabir Yusuf because of his magnanimity and leadership quality, having studied the situation that parents are now in dire need to even feed their families, and the students cannot afford, it was proposed to him to pay for those with 8 credits in the exam, but he rejected the proposal. Instead, he opted for any students who has 4 credits in any course. This number is staggering. It amounts to paying for 109, 891 which represents 83% of those that sat for KARD exam and also 10,012 for AID which represents 94% for those that sat for the exam.”
He disclosed that 109, 891 students would be sponsored for NECO while 10,012 students would be sponsored for the NBAIS examinations in 2024.
“This year 132,110 students sat for the qualifying exam from the conventional secondary schools and 10,296 sat for Tahfiz Islamiyya and Arabic education will be sponsored. In total, we have 144,600. And for any candidate to pay for NECO exam himself he has to pay N24,250 and for NBAIS exam, he has to pay 21,000.”
The commissioner explained that the decision was made with the understanding that each student with four credits can secure admission in many schools in the country.
Warns Teachers
Doguwa, while appealing to parents to ensure their children continue to attend their schools regularly, called on the students to reciprocate government effort through committing to their studies to excel in the forthcoming examinations.
He warned principals and examination officers against substituting students’ names which he described as illegal that the government would not tolerate.
According to Doguwa, the move is a significant step towards improving and repositioning education in Kano State.
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