The Niger State government is to spend N634.5 million on the payment of WAEC and NECO registration fees for 34,957 candidates in various public schools in the state.
Addressing newsmen in Minna after the state Executive Council meeting, the state Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Danladi Abduhamid said the free education policy of the state government in the past seven years included the payment of WAEC/NECO fees, as well as the provision of school uniforms to the girl-child in the state.
Abduhamid explained that the state government will only bankroll the examination fees for only one examination body of the students’ choice while parents had the option of paying for their second choice.
He said that from the statistics available, N1,034,043, 962 would be jointly paid to the two examination bodies by the government and parents.
He also said that the government drew over N4 billion between 2007 and 2012 from the Universal Basic Commission fund adding that the administration also took steps to access the 2015 fund so that it will be in position to complete all projects started under the scheme.
According to him, the government was in partnership with the Youth Empowerment Education Initiative – a Non Governmental Organization, NGO, for the training of 7,700 teachers who would be provided with computers to facilitate their jobs.
The government would however, pay 40 percent of the cost of the computers (Ipads) while the teachers would pay the remaining 60 percent.
Abduhamid described the free education policy as an expensive but worthwhile venture in the last seven years and called on the incoming All Progressives Congress, APC, to continue with the laudable project for the progress of the state.
