Parents have reacted to President Muhammadu Buhari’s reduction of Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) and National Examinations Council (NECO) fees, saying it is the best news they have heard for the year.
“I think it is a good development,” Chiamaka Obasi, a mother of four, whose two children will sit for both exams next year, said. “It will lessens our burden,” she said.
Buhari on Wednesday approved the reduction in the cost of forms for the JAMB, NECO and the Basic Education Certificate Examination fees.
With effect from January 2019, the cost of UTME Form will drop from N5,000 to N3,500 while that of NECO will drop from N11,350, to N9,850.
Similarly, fees for the Basic Education Certificate handled by NECO has been reduced from N5,500 to N4,000.
This was made known at the weekly Federal Executive Council held Wednesday, where the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, announced that “the President has directed the ministry to look into the reduction following the significant improvement in revenues being remitted to the treasury by the education agencies.”
Reacting to the news, Frank James, a newspaper vendor, said though the reduction was not too significant, paying exam fees would no longer squeeze his wallets.
“I would have wanted something less than that. Education should be a priority for a country, which is not doing so well in Human Development Index of the United Nations. But I am happy.”
A mother of four, whose three children are in school in Lagos, said she hoped this gesture was not political, saying, “I just hope this is not to win votes. I hope this would not be reversed after the general elections.”
Nigerians will go to polls in February 2019 to elect a president, senators, House of Representatives members, governors and House of Assembly members.
