By Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State Government on Tuesday said it has been sponsoring no fewer than 29,000 students yearly for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Commission (NECO) in the state.
It also denied insinuations in some quarters that the state government has withdrawn payments of NECO and WAEC fees for students at the secondary level.
The state Commissioner for Education, Dr. Badamasi Lawal Charanchi, told reporters that only those who failed the qualifying examinations for government sponsorship by not scoring credit in English and Mathematics and other three subjects miss government sponsorship.
“Government have been sponsoring about 29,000 candidates yearly, by paying their WAEC and NECO fees, and those who eventually scored the requisite credit units from among the population that were not taken earlier are being refunded. Close to N75 million has been paid out as refund made to parents and students so far,’’ the commissioner said.
Dr. Charanchi said that the payment was made to facilitate the release of the examination results of candidates who sat for the examinations in public schools in the state, adding that the gesture was part of government’s efforts to support parents in the payment of examination fees of their children.
He stated further that the state government has flagged off massive rehabilitation of both primary and secondary schools across the state.
According to him, “With the reconstruction and refurbishing of dilapidated infrastructure and the provision of both learning materials and desks in the classrooms is to ensure conducive learning atmosphere in the state.â€
The state commissioner for education stated that the re-painting of schools is a deliberate policy made at distinguishing between projects undertaken by the present administration and the previous governments.
“By the end of this year, basic schools in the state, including primary and secondary schools will wear new looks. The image of pupils sitting on bare floor and receiving lectures will be a thing of the past, because adequate budgetary provisions have been made to put the education sector in proper shape,” he said.
