Primary school pupils in Kaduna state have expressed joy for writing their Common Entrance Examination eight months after schools were closed across the state.
Our correspondent met excited pupils at some examination centres such as Government Junior Secondary School Kargi and Government Girls Secondary Maimuna Gwarzo in Kaduna South Local Government Area who said the examination would pave way for them to become seniors.
During a visit to Unguwar Sanusi Primary School, which also served as a centre, Aisha Sani said she was eager to move to the secondary section after wasting almost a year doing nothing at home. “I’m happy to write the exams because now I can move to JSS1 if I pass the exam. I’m happy because we have been at home doing nothing due to coronavirus,” she said.
Mohammed Anwar Umar of the same school said: “I’m hoping to pass the examination so I can forge ahead with my education.”
Based on the figures from the Ministry of Education, over 220,000 primary school pupils wrote the common entrance examination across the state.
The Commissioner for Education, Dr. Shehu Mohammad Makarfi, while on a monitoring exercise, expressed satisfaction with the students’ turn out saying that in most of the schools he visited, the population was around 55 percent for the boys and 45 percent for girls.
He said the percentage would soon be 50-50 for both boys and girls adding that when more girls go to school, the society will change for the better.
“The state is doing everything possible to ensure that every child has the right to attend school, which is free and compulsory,” he said.
On the observation of COVID-19 protocol, he said the schools followed all the protocols because hand washing facilities were provided for pupils to wash their hands before going into the school premises and classrooms.
