Education
NECO Needs N2bn To Conduct Exams – Registrar
Ahead the National Examinations Council (NECO), examinations in June, the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Registrar of the Council, Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi has said that the council would need over N2 billion to conduct the examinations.
Wushishi revealed this while fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the opening of a workshop on Quality Assurance in Educational Assessment with the theme, ‘Invigorating and Repositioning the National Examinations Council, NECO, through the Instrumentality of Quality Assurance for Effective Service Delivery’ in Minna, Niger State.
Wushishi said over 4,000 of its staff would be engaged on exams duties across the nation maintaining that the bill would be used to settle the allowances of the staff.
He stated that the increase in the examination bills followed the federal government’s recent upward review of Duty Traveling Allowances(DTA) of lts staff from N16, 000 to N33,500.
Wushishi said that NECO on its own does not have the money to implement such approval and appealed to the Federal Government to come to its aid.
Speaking on moves by the Federal Government to stop the collection of 25 percent from NECO examination fees, the Registrar described it as a welcome development.
Wushishi explained that the workshop would not only impact positively on the participants but equip them with the required skills to compete favourably with their counterparts globally.
In his words, “We need to install an e-library, sustainable training for capacity building, making available 24 hours free internet, use of softwares and computer laboratories as well as updating the knowledge of the teachers on their subject areas.”
Wushishi further expressed hopes that the workshop would aid the better handling of NECO exams, improve knowledge capacity as well as improved efficiency and effectiveness of the staff.
The River State Commissioner for Education, Dr Peters Nwagor has called on media practitioners in Rivers State to deploy their various communication platforms toward promoting government programmes and policies aimed at achieving sustainable development in the education sector. Dr. Nwagor made the appeal when members of the Etche Ethnic Practicing Journalists (EEPJ) paid him a courtesy visit in Office in Port Harcourt. The Commissioner emphasized the strategic role of the media in shaping public perception, promoting government initiatives, and supporting policies capable of improving the quality of education and human capital development in the state. According to him, constructive media engagement remains essential in creating public awareness on educational reforms, students’ welfare, infrastructural improvements, and other interventions being implemented by the state government. Speaking on the recent appro
