Bauchi Govt Pays N888.5m Examination Fees for 24,917 Public School Students
By Ahmed Ahmed
The Bauchi State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to expanding access to education with the payment of N888,507,400.00 as examination fees for 24,917 public secondary school students across the state.
The State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Abdulkadir Ibrahim, disclosed this on Friday at a news conference in Bauchi, stating that the intervention was approved by Governor Bala Mohammed as part of his administration’s drive to eliminate financial barriers to learning.
According to him,, the payment covers candidates sitting for the National Examinations Council (NECO), National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS), and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
He provided a breakdown of beneficiaries, revealing that 22,464 students were registered for NECO, 2,064 for NABTEB, 207 for NBAIS, and 6,562 for JAMB.
“This administration remains passionate about education and determined to remove every obstacle preventing our children from achieving their academic aspirations,” Ibrahim said.
He stressed that parents of students in public schools should not pay “a penny or a dime” for any of the listed examinations, as the government has fully settled the fees.
He described the initiative as a deliberate policy to promote equity and equal opportunity for children from both privileged and underprivileged backgrounds.
The commissioner clarified, however, that candidates in private schools are not covered by the arrangement, and their parents or guardians are expected to bear the costs.
Ibrahim urged parents to reciprocate the gesture by encouraging their children to study diligently and justify the huge public investment.
He noted that education remains the most strategic tool for societal transformation and sustainable development.
He also pledged intensified monitoring and evaluation to strengthen accountability across the education management system, assuring that the ministry would not relent in following up responsibilities to ensure improved standards statewide.
