.Demand Official Cost For Exams
By Okey Alozie
Uncertainty and controversy have continued to trail the Administrative hemisphere of the Secondary Education sector in Imo State.
Information revealed that there is confusion on the choice of registration fees to be collected for the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB).
The umbrella body for School Principals known as ANCOPSS had earlier before now demanded for the authentic approval and certified break- down of the working documents for secondary school principals to operate with, but up till now nothing has been done to this effect and consequently, the Principals are very much confused and disorganized as we gathered from a reliable sources.
Our source revealed that on the 12th of March 2024 at Government College Owerri, Oral pronouncement was made in respect of the registration fees.
According to some of the Principals, the registration fee for BECE was slated to be N7.500 during the first meeting.
The Principals hinted that they got oral announcement on air few days later directing that they should be registering students for BECE (Junior WAEC) with N6.500 per candidate and this contradiction trailed a lot of controversy in the education sector.
The Ministry of Education as we gathered denied knowledge of the radio announcement and thereafter scheduled to hold meeting with ANCOPSS Leaders to harmonize the registration fee issue that is causing confusion in the system.
Uptil now, the harmonization is yet to be done.
Moreover, the Principals are said to be divided on this registration matter. While some register BECE candidates with N7.500 each, others register with N6.500.
The worst as we also gathered is that there is no official documents backing both the N7.500 and N6.500 registration fees.
Some of the parents who spoke on this issue raised serious alarm, declaring that this is Executive fraud in the Education sector in Imo is getting out of hand.
The aggrieved parents want the Governor to intervene as a matter of urgency to rescue the situation so that the various frauds will not continue again in the Education sector in Imo.
The aggrieved parents further called for Governor Hope Uzodinma to set up a probe panel and find out those that are turning things upside down in the system.
