By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja.
SPEAKER of Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Aliyu Umar Yusuf has called on the state Ministry of Education Science and Technology to urgently remit the N497.3 million Examination fee recently released by Governor Yahaya Bello directly to West African Examination Council (WAEC).
Yusuf urged the State Commissioner of Education, Mr Wemi Jones to pay the money which is meant for Senior Secondary School (SSS III) students WAEC fees for May/June, 2024 directly into the coffers of the examination body latest by December, 30th.
The Speaker gave the directive to the during plenary sitting of the House in Lokoja when the Commissioner appeared before the Assembly to make some clarifications on the payment of WAEC Fees and claims by some School principals.
Mr Jones had said that some Principals were causing confusion by collecting WAEC fees and other levies from parents and students in spite of release of the fund to that effect by the state government.
The Commissioner, in his submission, assured the House and the general public especially, parents that the governor had released the sum of N497,300,000 for the payment of WAEC fees for 15,033 SSS III students across the 21 Local Government Areas of the state.
Jones also said that the released money was not missing but intact in the Ministry’s account and would not be released to any Principal or school, adding that it would rather be released to WAEC before the closing date of January 28, 2024.
The Commissioner warned Principals and Examination Officers of various schools to desist from acts of criminality in asking students to make payments for WAEC, PTA and any other levies.
Jones averred that Education remains free as far as Governor Bello and Kogi State are concerned, pointing out that Principals, School Heads and Examination Officers are not to collect any “Kobo” from any student for WAEC or PTA levy.
He stressed that private schools were not included in the government largesse adding that after the verification exercise to ascertain the true number of the students, it would be published school by school.
The Commissioner also pointed out that the WAEC fee for each student in the state for the May/June, 2024 examination is N33,100 only and warned private schools not to charge a Kobo more.
He warned that any private school that charged a “kobo” more than the fixed fee would have the Ministry to contend with. (Ends)