Kwankwaso promises free examinations, says school exam shouldn’t be revenue earners
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso has promised free qualifying examinations into tertiary schools if elected President, to build on his existing charity which offers university scholarships to students.
He said would ensure free registration for the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO), and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
He also promised to take all of Nigeria’s 20 million out-of-school children from the streets and put them back in the classroom within four years of his administration.
The former Kano Governor made the pledges when he presented his manifesto to the public on Tuesday in Abuja, where he also stressed that under his federal administration, JAMB results will be valid for four years.
Kwankwaso argues in his manifesto that examination bodies are not revenue generating agencies and must not operate as such.
He describes as a misnomer that an examination body will generate income for the treasury.
“Examination bodies are service agencies that facilitate access to higher education and training for our teaming young population,” his manifesto says, per The PUNCH.
“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 [TEIs] 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.”
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Priority for education, youth empowerment
Before the manifesto launch in Abuja, Kwankwaso had promised in Kano last month to put education first and empower young people during the inauguration of the state NNPP Presidential and Governorship Campaign Office.
“Those of you that are supposed to be in primary school will be back while the outstanding ones will be at foreign universities,” he told youths at the event, according to reporting by The PUNCH.
He promised adequate funding for education, saying Nigeria cannot achieve greatness without giving its citizens quality education to enable them to contribute to national development.
In his view, the huge crowd that welcomed him in Kano signified they are yearning for new set of leadership and the NNPP is poised to win the 2023 presidential election against the major political parties.
“This crowd signifies the need and urge for new leadership not only in the state, but the country at large.
“The biggest surprise will come when our party, the NNPP will win the 2023 presidential election God willing.”