10 Pupils, FAAC Funds, CBT Drama — How Nigerian Youth Got ‘JAMB-ed’ in Shocking Twist!

Unfortunately, ten exceptional students lost their lives in an accident while traveling by road from Kano to Lagos for a straightforward national assignment—a quiz. You would be foolish to dismiss this as simply another road statistic. Today, offer up a prayer for their distressed siblings, who have been their playmates and housemates since infancy. Who was in charge of that mishap? The price of criminal carelessness in this case should be borne by the offenders.

Naturally, no mode of transportation—not even flying—is safe. We regretfully recall the October 22, 2005, SOSOLISO crash, which claimed the lives of over 60 grieving youngsters. May God grant their families peace. However, do drivers treat kids and young people any more responsibly than they treat the rest of us? Not at all! Too many young people in Nigeria are born to die uninformed, unsung, and unmourned from diseases, accidents, terrorism, and avoidable deprivation.

In contrast to the youth who have just been JAMBed at their hopeful “exam success” and the 12–18 million youth who are reported as out-of-school youth, too many of whom are internally displaced, we must compare the FAAC allocations to the urgent needs of our youth both inside and outside of our educational system.

Every member of NASS absurdly gives itself N1,000,000,000 as a yearly Constitutional Allowance—yes, N1 billion for HOR and N2 billion for senators—which is a wholly careless allowance.

The JAMB system has several flaws and errors that are now sheepishly acknowledged with tears, but in the past, they were frequently smugly ignored, deflected, or covered up. Good students were tragically left perplexed by those errors and hiccups, unable to reconcile their shown academic ability with their subpar certified achievement. However, who would trust “disgruntled, disrespectful” children and their extremely poor or occasionally wealthy parents? Challenging WAEC, NECO, or JAMB is not cheap in terms of time or money”” WAChallenging” WAEC, NECO, or JAMB is not cheap in terms of time or money.

Furthermore, there has never been a guarantee of a fair assessment because the examining body also serves as the arbitrator in an appeal for a comment or dispute.

To be fair to the examination bodies, we do have several successful protest and commenting cases. However, it can cause a student to experience severe emotional distress for six to twelve months of their life with no assurance of success. However, do the exam bodies or the “REMARKED EXAM SUBJECTS STATISTICS” EXAMINATION WATCHDOG BODY publish any statistics on an annual basis?

For this reason, if the workload becomes too high for one person and a team, the government must take the audacious choice to establish an office of an education exam ombudsperson or panel, possibly based in the state. To manage the emotionally taxing and delicate cases of exam protests for that time only, the leader should be a distinguished, seasoned, respected principal—possibly a retired principal—who is replaced every one or two years. To eradicate the unspeakable suffering and trauma, and occasionally even successful suicide, caused by the “misdiagnosis” of educational failure and success, the individual must cooperate with the examination bodies. The exam bodies need to be flawless, much like Caesar’s wife.

Consider how the young person concerned, the other kids in the house, the family, friends, classmates, and the entire school would feel upon learning that their brightest symbol has turned into a common cheater, according to INFALLIBLE WAEC, NECO, or JAMB. Before a cancellation or downgrading could occur, we demanded a comprehensive panel inquiry years ago. This inquiry included an interview with every one of these candidates and principals, as well as a detailed analysis of all the relevant facts. Now, is that the case?

These organizations generate enough revenue to carry out an “EXAM RESULT VERIFICATION ENQUIRY.” Since the organization can generate up to N22 billion and give N7 billion back to the government, it could be necessary to lower the exam fees. This should result in a 25% reduction in fees. According to some, the additional N7 might be used to develop the required computer-based training, which goes beyond the skills needed to pass the JAMB exam. CBT is the youth right of the twenty-first century, and the local, state, and federal governments must implement usable CBT in every school, ideally with the help of solar panels.

Estimates vary, but according to one estimate, there are 23,550 secondary schools, 10,000 of which are public, costing N700,000 each.

Let’s include FAAC allocation, NASS Constituency Projects, and most likely State Assembly Constituency Allowances. It’s unclear if LGA council members receive constituency allowances covertly.

Everyone must use these monies sensibly and honestly, and youth education is a potent tool in the fight against poverty. They should be aware that, if ignored, that same education will turn into a potent weapon against advancement, endangering every one of us in our daily lives, particularly when we are moving through the streets of our neighborhoods, where the large number of visibly destitute and abandoned young people are skilled at begging or performing menial tasks to get daily bread.

The reality is that our children continue to face significant disadvantages in public schools and, to a lesser extent, private schools nationwide. Please help close the education deficit.