The Kogi Government has paid N115 million for settlement of Joint Administration Matriculation Board (JAMB) registration fees for 15,033 public school students across the state.
The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Wemmy Jones, disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Lokoja on Tuesday.
He said that the gesture was in line with the government’s free education policy under Gov. Yahaya Bello.
Jones explained: “The release of the sum of N115 million to cover the cost of JAMB registration fees for 15,033 students in public schools across the state is a further demonstration of the commitment of Bello to giving all Kogi children free access to education.
“The action is a follow up to the earlier payment of about N497 million to WAEC to ensure no student in Kogi public schools is made to pay a dime before writing any internal or external examination.
“I am pleased to announce to parents of Kogi students in public schools that they do not need to bother themselves about paying for their children’s JAMB registration fees as the governor has already released funds for that purpose.
“This is happening a few weeks after the state government paid hundreds of millions of Naira to WAEC for the registration of thousands of students in public schools.
“It’s a further demonstration of the determination of the governor to ensure no Kogi student is deprived of the chance to be educated on account of poverty.
“Having surpassed the benchmark of UNESCO on education budgetary allocation, Kogi has continued to be a beautiful commentary on education for all.”
The commissioner said that plans were that all the students in public secondary schools across the state would be covered by the policy.
According to him, the state government under the leadership of Bello has strengthened education with better infrastructure, employment of qualified teachers, broadening technical education and making education free for all.
Mr Adejoh Philip, a parent, thanked the governor for the gesture, which he (Bello) would be remembered for laying a solid foundation for the renaissance of education in the state.
“After seeing how beautiful the GYB Model Science Secondary School, Adankolo is; I withdrew my child from a private school and took him to the school.
“Many parents are doing same seeing the governor has invested so much in the education of our children,” he said. (NAN)