Following the decision of the Rivers State Government to cancel the National Examination Council (NECO) Examinations in public secondary schools in the state, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state has called for a rethink.

Making the NUT position known in an interview with The Tide, Friday, the state NUT Chairman, Chief Adiela Moses said the call for a rethink became necessary because students will suffer for it.

Explaining why government came up with the decision, the NUT Secretary, Apostle Monday Mandah said the state governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi made the position of the state known at a retreat held in Tinapa Resort, Calabar, Cross River State.

Mandah said the Governor hinged the decision of the state on the fact that NECO is not recognised in universities abroad, hence the decision to scrap it.

“The position of the NUT, however, is that since only relatively few Nigerians are opportuned to study abroad, scrapping NECO will only put the common man’s children at a disadvantage.

This is because with the existence of West African Examination Council and NECO, the common man child has more alternative in his aspiration to study within Nigeria.

“NUT is of the view that the two examinations should be open to students, let the students make the choice and not for choice to be imposed on students because that is undemocratic.

On his part, the state NUT chairman explained further that stopping public schools from writing NECO means an indirect way of encouraging parents to take their wards to private schools in order for them to write the NECO Exams.

It will be recalled that in a letter addressed to the Post Primary Schools Board, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Richard Ofuru had stated that the state government directed that public schools in the state should concentrate on the WAEC, while private schools are free to continue with the NECO examinations in the state.

Consequently, the Ministry of Education directed Post-Primary Schools Board in the state to enforce the cancellation of the NECO examination in the state.

“I wish, therefore, to bring your attention to the above decisions and therefore direct that you give effect to their enforcement thereto”, the statement added.

Sogbeba Dokubo