Over 80% of Borno candidates passed WAEC,NECO exams, officials tell Shettima … Borno Governor directs committee on University placements for candidates

Global Patriot Staff September 28, 2017 Education, Local, News Leave a comment 566 Views

More than eighty percent of final year students in public and private schools in Borno State obtained minimum of five credits that included Mathematics and English at this year’s Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations conducted by both the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), officials of the two bodies announced to Governor Kashim Shettima on Tuesday night.

The information came during a closed door meeting between Governor Shettima and officials of WAEC and NECO over inter-governmental matters delaying release of the result to students which are already being resolved. The Borno State Government has annually been making 75 percent payments to WAEC and NECO fees for final year students in public schools with parents contributing 25 percent. For this year’s (2017) the State Government is requesting some concessions from both WAEC and NECO in return for some non monetary assistance offered both exam bodies by the Borno State Government. “It is an appeal in appreciation of Borno’s peculiar challenges and it’s consistent support for the exam bodies” it was said during the meeting. The Government and the two exam bodies resolved to negotiate concessions last night to ensure candidates don’t miss out in pursuing admissions into Universities.

Mallam Zakari Yau Abdullahi, officer in charge of WAEC at the Maiduguri zonal office informed Governor Shettima that 87.6 percent of candidates who sat for exams from public and private schools in Borno State got minimum of five credits required for eligibility into Universities.

On the final year exams by NECO, 82.5 percent of candidates from public and private schools passed the exams, an official, Ahmed Ma’aji told Shettima during their meeting.

‎A total of 15,623 students of public schools sat for the two exams, Director of Education of Resource Centre in the State, Alhaji Laminu Abba ‎told the Governor.

“I want this issue immediately resolved. This non payment falls shot of out policy on Education. Borno is usually at the top in terms of making all payments to the Federal Government on issues concerning Education. I am a product of the public school system and I never attended any private school. It’s a temporary setback that must not be allowed to be a serious problem for candidates” Shettima said at the meeting while directing the State Commissioner for Education, Musa Inuwa Kumo to work with officials of the exam bodies and come up with immediate remedy.

WAEC, NECO exams: Shettima directs committee on University placements for Borno candidates

Meanwhile, with the cheering news of many candidates get minimum requirements, Governor Kashim Shettima has requested a an existing committee to help in lobbying Universities within and outside Borno State to get admissions for eligible students.

The Governor directed the request at the inauguration of Committees on Re-settlement of internally displaced persons to safe and rebuilt communities across the State. The Governor said he had expected the take off of the State University but funds that should have gone to the University were slowed using a scale of preference that gave priority to rebuilding of communities ‎to resettle citizens in need of permanent shelters.

“As at last year, we had projected the coming of tremendous financial support from multiple sources, local and international, which we had planned to deploy to rebuilding communities. Our projection wasn’t met hence we had to draw up a systematic scale of preference. Unfortunately, in this scale of preference, some capital projects had to be slowed down. For instance, we had planned that the Borno State University was to take off this year. However, we had to slow down release of funds into that project because rebuilding communities to resettle our displaced brothers and sisters in need, was considered far more urgent. This is yet another way the Boko Haram insurgency keeps altering our objectives.

Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, my heart bled yesterday when officials of the West African Examinations Council and National Examinations Council informed me that more than 80 percent of our sons and daughters secured five credits including mathematics and English in this year’s Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations that will soon be released. Whereas I was overwhelmingly excited by the result, I was sad by the fact that these boys and girls could have easily been admitted into the our State University. Sadly, our scale of preference made rebuilding of communities a bigger priority. But as a form of compensation, I will like to specially request the chairman and members of the Committee on Borno State University to kindly contact Universities within and outside the State, to intensely lobby for placements of our secondary school graduates during the upcoming admission. The Borno State Government will give the committee whatever support it needs to ensure that majority of our eligible sons and daughters get admitted into tertiary institutions based on their individual merit” the Governor said.