To ameliorate the effect of poverty on the educational progress of Kano school children, the Kano State Government introduced a sponsorship scheme to pay for the senior secondary school certificate examination of students that secure at least five credits in a qualifying examination.
But the government’s recent decision to change the criteria to seven credits had placed some students and parents in a disadvantaged position, pitting them against the government. Daily Trust examines the policy and the issues that trail it.
Since the release of the results of qualifying exams for the government’s scholarship in Kano, there have been bitter tales and divergent views among parents and students.
Against the former requirement of five credits, the state government now considers only students with seven credits, including Mathematics and English Language, to be qualified for sponsorship.
A source at the state Ministry of Education said that the state government, during an Executive Council meeting, decided to change the requirement from five credits to seven because of a reason they are yet to reveal.
The state government has since announced the release of N314.4 million for the sponsorship of 26,242 selected candidates, who are said to have met the requirement for the 2021 National Examination Council (NECO) and the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies examinations.
The commissioner for information in the state, Muhammad Garba, said the approval followed a recommendation by the award committee, which assessed the performance of candidates.
Garba pointed out that based on the selection criteria, the huge number of candidates, as well as the total expenditure involved, only candidates with seven to nine credits, including English and Mathematics, were considered for sponsorship.
Read More: https://dailytrust.com/kanos-education-policy-leaves-tales-of-woe
