The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has pledged that he would ensure that all entry examinations into tertiary institutions were free for Nigerians.
According to him, his administration, if elected in 2023, would ensure that parents do not pay a dime as registration fees for the West African Examination Council, WAEC, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and National Examination Council.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, said these during his manifesto which was presented to the public in Abuja.
Aside from ensuring free examination forms, Kwankwaso said JAMB results under his government will have a lifespan of four years.
The NNPP presidential candidate also pledged to mop up the 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria in the next four years.
In the document, Kwankwaso maintained that examination bodies are not revenue generating agencies and must not operate as such.
He described as misnomer notion that any examination body will generate income and contribute to the federation accounts.
The document said, “Examination bodies are service agencies that facilitate access to higher education and training for our teaming young population.
“For our administration, no Nigerian child shall be denied the Opportunity to write WAEC, NECO, JAMB, etc., because of their inability to pay exorbitant registration/examination fees. These examinations shall be free and all application forms for admission into Tertiary Education Institutions shall also be free;
“These examination bodies will be adequately funded by the kwankwaso administration.
“The notion that matriculation examination in Nigeria expires after one year will be stopped forthwith. JAMB results under the Kwankwaso government will have a lifespan of four years and TEIs will be required to accept these results for the purposes of admission.”
Source: The Punch