The Bauchi State government has cautioned that it will cease payment of external exam fees for Senior Secondary Three, SS3 students found skipping classes.
Commissioner for Education Jamila Dahiru gave the warning in Bauchi during her school resumption inspection and monitoring visits to some schools on Wednesday.
KATAGUM DAILYPOST recalls that Governor Bala Mohammed earlier allocated N396.9 million for the 2023/2024 external exams of 14,170 students in public schools.
The external examinations paid for included the West African Examination Council, WAEC, the National Examination Council l, NECO, National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.
However, the Commissioner, who was furious with the low level of attendance of especially the SS3 students in some schools, recounted how she met less than 20 percent of the SS3 students who were around when she visited a particular school.
She stressed the need for students to return to class and prepare diligently, threatening to revoke scholarships for ‘unserious ones.’
Her words: “We just realised that most of these students, after being taught from JSS1 to SS3 and with Gov. Bala Mohammed paying for their external exams, and as soon as they were done with their mock exams, they left school and won’t return until the first day of their external exams.
“It is sad to acknowledge that we are not responsible as parents because I want to believe that they have parents who are seeing them attending schools simply because they are getting ready to just write their external examinations.
“We want to make them come back to class, we want to emphasize that we are investing in the right people because it is just telling us that it is the government that bothers about their education while they don’t care and probably their parents that are allowing them to stay at home also don’t care.
“If they don’t care, we want to channel our energy to those that care. That is why I gave a directive that each and every child that we are sponsoring must be in school throughout this term before they commence their examination.
“If they don’t want to come to prepare so that they can pass with ease, then we should give those that are ready by revoking theirs and that’s why we are emphasising that the parents are responsible,” she said.
Dahiru also admonished teachers, warning against tardiness or absenteeism and stressing the importance of adhering to the standard teaching scheduled
She directed that no teachers should be allowed to enter into any school premises by 9 am, warning that teachers must be on ground by 7:30 am.
