The Gombe State Government has approved N417 million for payment of external examination fees for 21,988 final year students of secondary school across the state.
The Commissioner for Education, Hajiya Aishatu Maigari disclosed this at the end of the 29th Session of the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting on Thursday in Gombe.
She said the SEC presided over by Gov. Inuwa Yahaya also approved payment of scholarship allowances to 16,113 students.
The Council, she said, approved N417 million for payment of WAEC, NABTEB and NBAIS examination fees.
Maigari said that the 21,988 students were those who got 50 percent and above in the mock examination conducted by the ministry.
According to her, the number represents 78.59 per cent of the total number of candidates who sat for the mock examination.
“A breakdown of it shows that for WAEC, we have registered 20,685 students. For NABTEB, we have sponsored 1,167 and for NBAIS, we have registered 136 students which gives us a total of 21,988.
“This is a gesture worth considering; since the inception of this administration, we have seen our WAEC results going higher where most of our students are getting minimum requirements of five credits in Mathematics and English,” she said.
On bursary, Maigari said the govenment paid N331 million to 16,113 students registered from 2017 to 2022 academic session.
“The students have been verified, even the backlogs that have not been paid have been paid.
“The process is ongoing and students are being verified. Those that have been duly verified, have gotten their scholarship allowances.”
In the same vein, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Meshack Lauco said the SEC also approved N2.4 billion for the operation and maintenance of Gombe Regional Water Supply scheme for the year 2022 and 2023.
Lauco said that contract for the construction of 550 housing units at the cost of N4.74 billion has been awarded.
According to Lauco, the project comprises 150 unit of 3-bedroom flat; 350 units of two-bedroom and 50 unit of one bedroom flat.
