Some 42 candidates who reportedly registered for the forthcoming 2018 May/June Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) in Bayelsa State may not write the examinations over missing registrations fees.

It was gathered from one of the parents of the affected students that the Principal of Community Secondary School Amkefa in Yenagoa failed to register their wards for the external examinations

They got to know of the development following checks at the Bayelsa Ministry of Education which indicated that 42 names were missing on the list.

Mr James Ebiowei, a parent, said that it took the vigilance of one of the parents of the affected 42 students to discover that something was ‘fishy’ with the registration of their wards.

He alleged that the Principal had collected the registration fees from the parents without remitting same to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

According to Ebiowei, “It was one of the parents who saw the school’s WAEC candidates list and noticed that the name of his child and 41 others were missing and raised alarm and when we got to the school we were told that the Principal behind this had just retired.

“This is cruel as the implication is that these innocent children do not know what is happening to them, they will most likely lose a whole academic year due to this unfortunate incident.

“My son for instance sat for the last JAMB and got very high scores with bright chances of getting admission offer on merit only to discover that his registration fee was not paid by the School Principal. It is unfortunate.

“The saving grace for me is that the alternative examinations, conducted by National Examinations Council (NECO) is still open, so I will ensure I register him for NECO.”

Mr Francis Micah, who retired last month as Principal of Community Secondary School, Akemfa, confirmed that some 42 students who paid their WAEC examination fees were not registered.

Micah, who described the development as regrettable, said that he lost the examination fees totalling about N800,000 to armed robbers who trailed him and boarded the same taxi.

He said: “The incident is unfortunate and regrettable, it is a big misfortune. I fell into the hands of some cultists and armed boys who collected the examination fees in a taxi I struggled to pay back but it was not possible and the exam deadline passed.

“I have managed to pay back to some of the affected parents so that they can register for NECO, but a lot are still pending and I have been begging them to understand and be patient with me.”

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