The Benue State Government has unfolded plans to pay Senor School Certificate Examination (SSCE) registration fees for students in government-established schools.
The Commissioner for Education and Knowledge Management, Rev. Frederick Ikyaan, disclosed this during a meeting with Principals of Post-Primary Schools, Area Education Officers and other stakeholders in the education sector in Makurdi, the state capital.
Rev. Ikyaan announced that Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia adminstration will pay the registration fees for final year students of only Government Secondary Schools (GSS’s), in the state.
He cautioned the principals against engaging in unethical practices such as illegal admission of students in the name taking undue advantage of the good gesture that the state Government is offering to her citizens.
According to the governor’s Principal Print Media Assistant to the governor, Donald Kumun, the commissioner instructed all the principals of post primary schools not to collect money from students for such registration, unless approvals that would come from the ministry.
The Commissioner called on parents of benefited students to encourage their children to study hard to compliment the efforts of the state government, so as not to see it as a wasted opportunity.
The Director General, Benue State Education Quality Assurance Agency (BEQA), Dr. Terna Francis, thanked the Commissioner for bringing innovations in the education sector that are already yielding positive results, saying that, the agency under him is aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning in the state, and warned against examination malpractice and other vices in the sector.
The Executive Secretary, Benue State Teaching Service Board (TSB), Mr. Tsea Ahule, also thanked the commissioner for the meeting with heads of the institutions, as well as administrators in the education sector, and called on the principals to always seek approvals from the board before taking any action in their respective schools
