Over 33,000 Kaduna Students Got Free NECO, NABTEB Forms in 3 Years.
The Kaduna State Government has revealed that it spent N380.7 million on payments of National Examination Council (NECO) and National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) fees for 33,750 students.
According to the state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Ja’afar Sani, who made this known in an interview on Monday, the amount was spent between 2016 and 2018.
Sani explained that N363.6 million was spent on NECO examination fees for 32,032 students and N17.2 million on NABTEB fees for 1,716 students.
He noted that quite a number of secondary school students drop out of school after reaching senior secondary school because they could not raise money to pay for NECO or NABTEB examination fees.
The commissioner said that the government had to come in with such support to improve the completion rate of students, particularly the girl child, and academically sound students, particularly those from poor families.
“The state government has declared free education from primary one to junior secondary school, and free education for the girl child up to senior secondary school to reduce financial burden on parents.
“The payment of examination fees and the free education was to ensure that we removed all barriers that stand between our children and education in Kaduna state.
“All we want is to ensure that every child in Kaduna state has access to quality education rich or poor, in rural or urban areas,” he said. (NAN)
