Investigations by www.calitown.com just revealed that most secondary schools in Cross River State are currently milking students and their parents dry, charging an illegal fee and making it compulsory on students writing the ongoing Junior Secodary School Certificate Examination.
With a minimum charge of N500 (five hundred naira) per subject, the students are told by the school authorities that the money is for those invigilating the examination and compliance on the part of the students is one criteria for allowing them write the exam. One parent who has a ward in Big Qua Girls Secondary School, Calabar Municipality, informed www.calitown.com that she has “to pay the money because my daughter is insisting that the teachers will not let her write the exam without the money and we give her the money on a daily basis”. The money collected is shared between the school authorities and the invigilators. The invigilators collect the money and look the other way while teachers in most of the schools help out with answers to examination questions.
Officials of the CRS Ministry of Education are insisting that they are unaware that “this anomaly is taking place”, as one of them who refused to have his name in print, said. He went on to say that “now that it has been brought to our attention, we will do something about it”. That assurance is what one source doubts and further describes the situation as “very bad news for CRS”. The source also promised to “inform a few persons in Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, CRBC, to investigate the unfortunate situation before we draw very serious attention to the situation”.
A few JSS III students in selected secondary schools in the state have confirmed the situation and said that it is “something that happens every year”.
