.
By Nasir Kura
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved reduction in the examination fees charged by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from N5,000 to N3,500 with effect from January 2019.
The council also approved reduction in the examination fees chaired by the National Examination Council (NECO) from N11,350 to N9,850 for senior secondary school certificate and from N5,500 to N4,000 for basic education certificate.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu, while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly FEC meeting in Abuja.
“Since the new administration came into office and a change in management and prudent management by JAMB, we have been able to see that most of what have been charged doesn’t have to be because a lot of it have been siphoned by corrupt officials.
“So, in answer to yearnings my parents, Mr. President directed that we should look into the possibility of reducing the charges. So accordingly, from January 2019, JAMB fees will be from N5,000 to N3,500 for the UTME, Senior Secondary Certificate charged by National Examination Council (NECO) from 11,350 to N9,850 and Basic Education Certificate handled by NECO is reduced from N5,500 to N4,000.
“Our concerns is not to make money as such, we are not a revenue generating agencies. Since we found that JAMB has been able to bring into government coffers about N8 billion, we said we should relied the burdens on parents,” he said.
On if the reduction was as a result of the 2019 elections, the minister said: “A good thing doesn’t have to have a reason. Whether it is because of election or not, I think parents deserve to have the fees reduced. And I think there is no better time to do a good thing than now.”
Also speaking, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the council also approved N9.6 billion for 11 ecological interventions projects in Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Cross River, Adamawa, Bauchi, Jigawa, Niger and Kaduna states as well as Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said the council also approved N267 million for three industrial wastes combined incinerators for environmental friendly destruction of counterfeit and substandard regulated products by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
