Kwara State Government has vowed to sanction any principal who collects extra fees above the approved for external examinations from secondary school Students including the West Africa Examination Council and the National Examination Council.

The decision to again outlaw any form of extortion is part of the ongoing reform agenda of the government to improve quality of education without imposing any hardship on the parents.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Mrs Mary Adeosun, made this known at a meeting with the principals of Senior Secondary Schools across the state during this year’s 2022 West African School Certificate Examination floating.

The permanent secretary, who was represented by the Director Curriculum and Assessment of the Ministry, Hajia Folashade Raji, at Saint Anthony Secondary School, Ilorin, said that no student should pay more than N20,150 for the May/June 2023 West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination.

A statement signed by Peter Amogbonjaye, Press Secretary, Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development made available to newsmen in Ilorin on Wednesday said that Adeosun gave the breakdown of the approved registration fees for WASSCE 2022/2023 thus: WAEC charges N18,000, e-registration charges, N1,050, administrative charges N1,100 and the total fees to be paid as N20,150.

She said the ministry would not tolerate extra charges from any principal apart from the one approved by the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development.

She also solicited the support of the principals for the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who she said, is wholeheartedly committed to the welfare of teachers and the citizens.

Also speaking at the event, the Executive Chairman of the Kwara State Teaching Service Commission, Mallam Bello Abubakar, applauded Governor AbdulRazaq for moving the education sector forward in the state.

Bello explained that the present monitoring embarked upon by the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development in conjunction with the Teaching Service and Chairman Kwara State Universal Education Board, is to improve the sector.

In their contributions, the President of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools, Comrade Usman Abdulahi and the Chairman of Nigerian Union of Teachers, Kwara State Chapter, Comrade Bashir Oyewo, applauded Governor AbdulRazaq for putting the right people to run the affairs of the education sector in the state.

They thanked the governor for revamping the education sector through the rehabilitation and construction of schools across the three senatorial districts of the state, recruitment of qualified teachers to all primary and secondary schools across the state, prompt payment of salaries and training and retraining of teachers.

Other achievements of the governor, according to the stakeholders, include the promotion of teachers and free hand to select outstanding teachers for awards which they claim had never happened in the history of the state.

They promised to ensure improved productivity of teachers across the state.