The Rivers State Government has launched the Basic Education Certificate to replace First School Leaving Certificate that have been in existence in the state.
The State Commissioner for Education, Professor Kaniye Ebeku on Thursday made the launched at the Ministry of Education.
The launch of this certificate officially puts an end to the issuance of the First School Leaving Certificate in the state.
Ebeku said the action is in line with prevailing National Policy on Education.
The Basic Education comprises of Primary one to six and Junior Secondary one to three which together takes a period of 9years. At the end of the 9years, the student writes the Basic Education Certificate Examination. Successful students will be issued the new Basic Education Certificate.
According to the Commissioner, ” the issuance is conceived in a way that successful candidates do not need to pay money.For us this process is Charge free,” he said.
Ebeku explained that the examination fees paid by the candidate is expected to incorporate any charge for printing, stressing that mercenaries have been put in place to check forgery.
“We have ensured that the certificate has some endorsement that will be difficult for fraudsters to fake”
“The ministry decided to up their game in keeping records so that in the case of any report of doubt, suspicion or forgery, the ministry will verify through its master list that will be kept in the archive”.
“According to this prevailing policy,a child has the basic right to school for a period of 9years non stop after which the child is supposed to decide whether to proceed to the senior secondary or vocational education,” he noted.
Also speaking, the representative of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Blessing Ndamati noted that the launch of the certificate has put an end to secret selling of First School Leaving Certificate, stressing that any certificate issued in the state from 2006 upward is fake as the government has also set up different machineries to determine fake and genuine certificates
