Bauchi: Governor Mohammed settles exam fees for over 14,000 students

The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed has approved the payment of over N390 million to settle the 2024 external examination fees of over 14,000 public school students in the state.

The State Ministry of Education through its Information Officer, Jalaluddeen Usman in a statement on Saturday morning said the approval for the sum of N396,963,000 was to cover payment for WAEC, NECO, JAMB and NBAIS examinations.

Usman said the governor's approval was part of his commitment to enhance educational excellence and ease the financial burden on students and their parents, especially during the current economic realities.

He added that Governor Mohammed has also paid the N800 million debt incurred by the previous administrations in the state to pay the examination fees.

The Information Officer added that the State Ministry of Education extended its appreciation to the governor for his continuous support of the development of the education sector in the state. 

Usman partly stated: "In a further demonstration of commitment to educational excellence, the payments for NECO, WAEC, and NBAIS examinations were extended to all indexed students who successfully passed the aptitude test conducted by the Ministry of Education on February 1st, 2024. 

"This initiative aims to ensure that students are suitably prepared to excel in their external examinations, thus promoting quality education across the state.

"Additionally, Governor Bala Mohammed's generosity extends to covering the JAMB examination fees totalling 9,560,400 NGN for 1,542 students who exhibited outstanding performance during the aptitude test, earning an impressive A grade.

"This strategic move is intended to inspire other students to strive for academic excellence and reinforces the government's dedication to nurturing a culture of meritocracy in education.

"The significant increase in both the number of beneficiaries and the funds released for external examinations for the current academic session represents a percentage increase of approximately 59.98% from 2021/2022 to 2022/2023 and approximately 26.58% from 2022/2023 to the current year. 

"This increase reflects Governor Bala's unwavering commitment to ensuring equitable access to education for all students in Bauchi State, with the total amounts paid for the examinations being 196,068,002.50 NGN for 2021/2022, 313,578,000 NGN for 2022/2023, and now 396,963,600 NGN for 2023/2024, respectively."