By Usman Usman Garba
The Grassroot Care and Aid Foundation has appealed to the Federal Government to reconsider any proposed increase in the registration fees for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), warning that higher costs could deny thousands of underprivileged students access to education.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Founder and President of the Foundation, Ambassador Auwalu Muhd Danlarabawa, said education remains one of the most effective tools for breaking the cycle of poverty and creating opportunities for young people.
He noted that many students from low-income families, particularly orphans and other vulnerable children, already face enormous challenges in paying examination registration fees.
According to him, any increase in the cost of registering for WAEC and NECO examinations would further worsen the situation and place an unbearable burden on struggling families.
“If reports of an increase to about N50,000 per candidate become a reality, many deserving students may be forced to forgo these critical examinations, thereby limiting their chances of pursuing higher education and securing a better future,” the statement said.
Danlarabawa explained that the Foundation’s engagement with vulnerable communities across the country has exposed the severe financial hardship faced by many parents, widows and guardians who make enormous sacrifices to keep their children in school.
The Foundation therefore called on the Federal Government to review and suspend any proposed increase in examination fees in the interest of educational access and social equity.
It also urged members of the National Assembly to engage relevant authorities to ensure that WAEC and NECO registration fees remain affordable for all Nigerian students.
The Foundation further appealed to state governments to strengthen intervention programmes aimed at subsidising examination fees for indigent students, particularly orphans and children from disadvantaged households.
The statement stressed that every Nigerian child deserves an equal opportunity to complete secondary education regardless of economic circumstances, adding that making examination fees unaffordable would undermine national efforts to improve school enrolment, reduce dropout rates and expand access to quality education.
Grassroot Care and Aid Foundation reaffirmed its commitment to advocating policies and programmes that protect the educational rights of vulnerable children and promote equal access to learning opportunities across Nigeria.