‘They can’t even have four credits’… Niger to stop ‘throwing away money’ on SSCE fees

Niger state government intends to stop the payment of West African Examination Certificate (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) fees for its secondary school students.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Sani Bello, Niger governor, said this on Tuesday while lamenting the track record of unimpressive performance of the students.

“Government spend such huge money for students that cannot even have four credits. Only about five per cent of students will have four credits and above”, said Bello, during a visit to Justice Legbo Kutigi secondary school.

“Basically, it is like we are throwing away money. We will rather stop and invest the money on the facilities so that with time we will get good results”, he said.

The governor noted that the issue has to be reviewed as the state had incurred debts from paying for the students’ examinations.

“We must review the issue of the payment of NECO and WAEC fees because at the moment, we are still owing NECO and WAEC about N800 million”, Bello said.

He further explained that the criterion for paying for the examination would henceforth, be based on the students’ performance.

Speaking about the debt that had been incurred, he said: “the Commissioner for Finance has met with NECO and WAEC officials and there is an understanding that the debt issue will be addressed”.