The Cross River State government has commenced the payment of N440 million to the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the organizers of the examination for 16,301 candidates in the state’s public schools.
The payment followed approval made by the State Executive Council (SEC) to increase the number of students enrolled in the SSSCE.
In an interaction with journalists in Calabar on Tuesday, the governor, Bassey Otu, said the present economic situation, characterised by a high cost of living, required some palliative measures in the education sector to ameliorate the hardship of parents in meeting their responsibilities to their children and wards.
The governor warned school authorities not to pad the list of beneficiaries so that the purpose of the gesture would not be defeated.
