Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State has asked the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to stop giving preferential scores to Northern students in its exams.
El-Rufai said standardization of the scores would make students from the North to be competitive nationally and internationally.
The Governor also said that the differential JAMB scores has made Northern students lazy. Noting that schools in his state are currently closed based on the advice of security agencies, El-Rufai stated that they are confident that from next two weeks, they would start the gradual reopening of schools.
He said; “The North has always been behind in education, we’ve continuously been the disadvantaged region right from independence even though we’re given preferences, JAMB scores and all that. That has not helped, in fact, it has made our people lazy.
“Against this differential JAMB and FG (Federal Government) scores, I think people should be encouraged to work hard and compete and we’re prepared to make our children in Kaduna State to be competitive, not only in the state, but globally.
“The schools are closed now because, on the advice of security agencies, they need a couple of months to undertake massive security operations. They’re doing that. We’re confident that from the next two weeks, we’ll start the gradual reopening of schools.
“We’ve moved many of our students in rural areas that we’re not sure we can protect to urban schools, thereby increasing the congestion in urban schools that we can protect.
“The continuous closure of schools is exactly what bandits and Boko Haram want and we’re not going to let them win but we must put the safety of our children and teachers first.”
