By Onome Oghenetega
The Delta State government has described as complete waste of public fund the free enrollment for candidates sitting for both the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO).
It, however, said the huge amount the state had been paying for candidates of the state origin sitting for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) was no longer sustainable.
The state commissioner for education, Mr Chiedu Ebie, who briefed journalists in Asaba on Wednesday insisted the payment was not sustainable because the supposed beneficiaries go outside the state to register when the government had already pay for them.
Ebie expressed concerns that there was high exodus of students from the state during their final year to other states where there are miracle centres for SSCE
He explained that most the candidates do not sit for the examination in the public schools where government had actually paid the fees, thus amounting to waste of money.
The commissioner regretted that over 40 percent absenteeism is being recorded at every examination after the fees had be paid by government.
“Migration of SSS 3 students out of the state for WAEC and NECO is another serious issue. This is why the state government stopped the payment of enrollment of students because we were recording over 40% absenteeism after the payment of enrollment fees for the supposed beneficiaries, who storm miracle centres outside the state for higher grades.
“You clearly see that the state is running at a loss, and parents don’t feel the impact because the money is not from their pockets,” Ebie stated.
He said the ministry has strengthened its monitoring unit to ensure that examination malpractice is reduced or completely eliminated from the state.
“We are not saying that we don’t have malpractice in the state but we are taking seriously steps to address it. 571 persons were recently trained on examination ethics. We also also have examination ethics committee to handle issues of malpractice.
“I have also had to sanction two ministry officials who arrived 45 minutes behind schedule of an external examination,” he added.
Ebie ruled out the possibility of a scholarship for little Miss Success Adegor whose video went viral after she was sent home from school in Sapele over her inability to pay certain levies.
