The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN reports that Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, on Wednesday described poor funding, the dearth of qualified teachers, dilapidated infrastructure, among others, as hindrances to Student Exchange Programme in Northern part Nigeria.
El-Rufai expressed the view at the 16th Meeting of Commissioners of Education of the 19 Northern States participating in the Students Exchange Programme in Kaduna.
He added that poor health facilities and non-remittance of annual dues by participating states also affected the success of the programme.
El-Rufai, represented by his Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Andrew Nok, noted that the problem affected the performance of students in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations of WAEC and NECO.
He expressed the hope that the meeting would seek to formulate operational guidelines and take decision on issues that affected the smooth running of the programme.
According to him, the meeting is a platform for discussing the numerous challenges facing education in the Northern states and the country.
He explained that the main objective of the programme was to expose benefiting students at a tender age to the culture, food, prospects and activities of other parts of Nigeria.
“This would make the students attain some level of independence and the willingness to exploit opportunities far from their comfort zone.
“It will also promote academic excellence and enable the students maintain high level of discipline and strengthen national unity and integration, “El-Rufai said.
Also speaking, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Ramatu Abubakar, urged the northern states to continue to improve access to quality education and invest in education infrastructure.
(NAN)