The Kwara State government has pledged to sponsor 800 students for this years Arabic examinations conducted by the National Board for Arabic Examination in the state.

This is an improvement from 2015 when the government sponsored 400 students for the exam which is the equivalent of WAEC and NECO for students of Arabic schools. The examination was approved by the federal government in 2013. 2, 000 candidates sat for this year's mock examination in various centres across the state.

The examination was held simultaneously in Ilorin, Lafiagi, Tsaragi, Jebba, Oke Onigbin and Osi for the final year students in Arabic schools in the state.

The chairman of the State Arabic Board, Dr Abdulkadir Oba-Solagberu, said the examination was a major criteria for the students to be eligible for government sponsorship of the National Board for Arabic Examination which will hold in June, this year.

He also expressed satisfaction with the way the examination was conducted across the state and disclosed that the results would be released next week. Oba- Sholagberu said the essence of the examination was to assess the students particularly in the development, learning and teaching of Arabic language.

Permanent secretary of the state Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Hajiya Mariam Garba, also praised the organisers for conducting the examination without rigour and free of all forms of examination malpractice