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By Uwem Ekoh
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has released the sum of N778,998,500 for the 2023/2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) fees for Akwa Ibom students.
The Commissioner for Education, Mrs Idongesit Etiebiet who said this in an interview with newsmen in her office in Uyo, adding that amount was initial payments for 48,797 candidates participating in the sub regional examination this year.
The breakdown of the release according to the Commissioner is to cover NIN registration fee, biometric registration, funds for administrative cost, as well as 50% of the WASSCE fee.
She said that the increase in sundry charges for the examination has raised the yearly payment fee by the State Government from N1 billion – N1.5 billion.
She further noted that the West African School Examination fee hitherto was N18,000 naira, has been increased to N27,000.
“The release of the initial payment by the State Government is to enable the students to participate in the examination, and the Government is expected to pay a balance of over N700,000,000 in due course.”
The Education Boss commended the Governor for remaining committed to the welfare of students despite the apparent economic realities in the country, expressing the belief that students will work hard and justify the huge investments committed by Government to their course.
“You could recall that, very recently the Government had released additional N100 million to cater for bursary of students of Akwa Ibom State origin at various tertiary institutions across the country, while grants ranging from N250,000 – N350,000 had also been given to students with disabilities, starting with tertiary institutions.”
The Education Commissioner hinted that since the commencement of the bursary payment exercise, over 10,000 recipients have benefited from this exercise so far.
