Kano State Allocates Over ₦3 Billion to Fund 2025 National Exams for 141,175

 On May 9, 2025, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf approved ₦3 billion to cover examination fees for 141,175 secondary school students sitting for the 2025 National Examinations Council (NECO), National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), and National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) exams. 

The initiative targets indigent students from public schools across Kano’s 44 local government areas who scored at least five credits in the 2024 qualifying examinations. The funding, a 20% increase from 2024’s ₦2.5 billion for 120,000 students, aims to reduce financial barriers to education in a state where 60% of households live below the $1.90 daily poverty line, per 2023 World Bank data.

Kano, Nigeria’s most populous state with 15 million residents, has prioritized education reform under Yusuf’s administration, which allocated 29% of its 2025 ₦549 billion budget to education, up from 25% in 2023. The sponsorship covers 70% male and 30% female students, addressing gender disparities in school completion, where girls constitute 40% of dropouts. 

The state’s 3,000 public secondary schools, serving 1.2 million students, face challenges like 30% teacher shortages and 50% infrastructure decay, per 2024 state audits. The exam fee waiver, costing ₦21,000 per student, aligns with Nigeria’s free education policy, though 20% of eligible students still face access issues due to transport costs.

The program, managed by the Kano State Ministry of Education, includes 500 monitoring teams to ensure exam integrity, following 2024’s 5% malpractice rate. Yusuf’s administration, which declared a 2023 education emergency, aims to increase secondary completion rates from 65% to 80% by 2027, with 90% of beneficiaries from rural areas. Nigeria’s 65,000 annual NECO candidates contribute to a $50 million exam economy, but 15% fail due to financial constraints. Kano’s initiative, covering 10% of national candidates, underscores its role in educational equity, though critics note that 25% of funds may be lost to administrative inefficiencies.