Students of public secondary schools of Sokoto and Zamfara will not be taking part in this year’s May/June diet of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The head of Nigeria’s office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Patrick Areghan, who disclosed this on Monday, however, did not state the reasons for the exemption.
But PREMIUM TIMES can report that the examination body refused to accept candidates from Zamfara State over an accumulated debt owed over the years.
Reliable sources confirmed to this newspaper how the administration of the immediate past governor of the state, Abdulaziz Yari, owed the examination body accumulated fees for public school candidates sponsored for the examination.
But the state’s commissioner for education, Zainab Gummi, told our reporter on the phone that the issue is being addressed in the interest of the students and Nigeria as a whole.
She also cited insecurity as a major reason for the difficulty in presenting candidates before the deadline, and promised: “that all hands are on deck to ensure quicker resolutions of all issues.”
“We have an agreement with the examination body and we are committed to fulfilling it. Our major challenge is insecurity because most students are not even in the right frame of mind to sit for examinations. But I can tell you that Governor Matawalle is committed to rebuilding Zamfara State and education is a key component of the drive,” Mrs Gunmi said.
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