By Roland Ike, Abakaliki
The Labour Party Candidate for Ohaukwu/ Ebonyi Federal Constituency at House of Representatives, Prince Ndubisi Chibueze-Agbo, has rued the exhorbitant cost of the 2023/24 Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination registration fee.
Chibueze-Agbo who was a Former Commissioner for Education in the state made the disclosure in an interview noting that the development called for concern.
He stated that N6,700 which is the examination’s registration cost cannot be afforded by many families.
” The extant minimum wage of N30,000 for civil servants in Nigeria for instance and the high cost of living would culminately makes the amount hard to afford by many families.
“This is a mark of insensitivity by relevant agencies saddled with the responsibility of providing such fundamental service.
“The harsh economic realities in the country should be considered when decisions concerning such sensitive issues are made,”
The educationist stated that examination bodies were not created chiefly as a revenue channel of government.
“They should instead, serve as institutions to maintain up-to-date and competitive yardsticks acceptable to current global realities.
“I therefore appeal to the Federal Ministry of Education which is the supervisory ministry of the board, to look into the the issue.
“The ministry should direct a reduction of the JAMB registration cost to accommodate students whose parents might not afford the cost presently,”
He maintained that such increment contribute to the negative tendencies which presently pervade the society.
“Intelligent students denied access to tertiary education have the tendency of resorting to crime and other detrimental acts.
“I therefore appeal to Nigerians to vote for competent candidates such as the presidential candidate of the labour party, in the forthcoming general elections.
“This is to save the country from further degeneration as any nation which fails to provide accessible and qualitative education to its citizenry, will certainly be in a crisis,”
