Kogi Authorities has vowed to penalise any principal or head trainer of public colleges discovered amassing charges from pupils and college students.
The Commissioner for Training, Wemi Jones, gave the warning on Friday in Lokoja, whereas reacting to experiences that some faculty directors have been demanding charges from college students.
Mr Jones reiterated that training remained free in public colleges at main and secondary ranges, in keeping with the Kogi State Training Regulation 2024.
He stated that the state authorities’s regulation supplied without spending a dime training, together with free examination registration for Kogi college students in public main and secondary colleges.
The commissioner stated that the state authorities had to date spent N1.2 billion on fee for each public faculty college students’ exterior and inside examinations within the 2024/2025 tutorial session.
He, subsequently, vowed that the ministry would crack down on any faculty administrator attempting to sabotage the system, to make sure each youngster’s proper to free training with out exceptions.
“Authorities will sanction any principal or faculty administrator caught amassing cash from college students and pupils.
“Gov. Ododo has declared a state of emergency in training in Kogi State, and it’s crucial that each youngster has entry to high quality training with out the hindrance of economic boundaries.
“Principals who proceed to gather charges should not solely doing a disservice to the state, but in addition trying to sabotage the federal government’s initiative,” Jones stated.
He emphasised the importance of the governor’s resolution to alleviate mother and father of the burden of charges fee, given the present financial challenges dealing with the nation.
The commissioner, subsequently, warned that any faculty official discovered violating the free training coverage would face extreme penalties.
He urged mother and father and college students to report any cases of price assortment to the suitable authorities, to make sure accountability and transparency within the training system.
The Information Company of Nigeria (NAN) experiences that the state authorities had in October 2024, launched over N661.3 million for the fee of 2024/2025 West African Examination Council (WAEC) charges for college students in public colleges.
The governor had additionally, on Tuesday, accredited N542 million for fee of charges for 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE), Widespread Entrance Examinations (CEE), and Fundamental Training Certificates Examination (BECE) for college students and pupils in public colleges.NAN
