The Kano State Government has approved the sum of N2, 910,682,780 to sponsor 119,903 students to undertake the 2024 National Examinations Council (NECO) and National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) examinations.
The state's Commissioner of Education, Dr. Umar Doguwa who made this known while briefing journalists in Kano said any student who secured four credit in any course from the last qualifying examinations (mock) in the state stands to benefit and be registered for the exams.
Doguwa said government is paying N24, 250 and N21, 000 for NECO and NBAIS registration fees respectively per student.
“It was proposed to him (Governor Abba Yusuf) to pay for only those with eight credit but he rejected the proposal and opted to pay for any students with four credits in any course.
“This number amounts to paying for 109,89 students, representing 83 percent of those that sat for Kano Education Resource Department (KERD) examination (mock) and also 10,012 students representing 97.24 percent that sat for Arabic and Islamic Education Department (AIED) exams.
“With this, we bear in mind that any student with four credit can get admission anywhere in the world, so we can't waste them. Sometimes again, student can fail in the qualifying examinations but make it up during the NECO exams,” he stated.
He however called on parents not to stop their children from going to school because they failed the qualifying exams, pointing out that, the present administration is committed to improving the education sector, hence the declaration of the state of emergency in the sector.
While cautioning principals and teachers not to substitute any student names for others, he vowed that anyone found wanting will be prosecuted.