Gombe State Ministry of Education has celebrated 24 brilliant students who scored above 200 in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
At the event held yesterday, Commissioner for Education Aishatu Maigari said this gesture is not just about giving out money.
It’s a message to every student in the state.
“Hard work pays.”
She stressed that the recognition aims to boost morale and encourage more students to aim high.
Maigari explained that the students didn’t achieve this alone.
Their success is linked to a smart collaboration between the Ministry of Education and Pen Resource Academy through the Students Work Study Programme (SWSP).
Under this programme, science students were given extra academic support and mentorship.
The commissioner recalled how Governor Inuwa Yahaya declared a state of emergency on education not too long ago.
Since then, they’ve rolled out reforms like:
- Mock exams to prepare students better
- Free payment of WAEC/SSCE fees for those who pass the mocks
- Recruitment of more qualified teachers
And it’s working.
Last year alone, over 600 Gombe students qualified for university admissions, a big leap from 2019 when only 22% passed their final secondary school exams.