KANO State governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, in his determination to ensure an effective take-off of free and compulsory education in the state, has flagged off the funding aspect of the programme, saying government will spend N2.4 billion annually on 1,180 schools with 834,366 students.
The governor made the disclosure while flagging off the rogramme at the Sani Abacha Indoor Stadium, Kofar Mata, Kano with teachers, students, parents, stakeholders and the community people in attendance.
To sustain the policy, he said the state is preparing to enact a law to institutionalise the free and compulsory education policy to ensure the successful attainment of the targeted goals.
According to him, the sum is earmarked as direct funding strategy to schools numbering 1,180, with a total students’ population of 834,366.
“Upon this milestone, we are also prepared today to flag off the funding component of free and compulsory basic and secondary education programme with the direct funding of schools in the state.
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“In our efforts to integrate the Tsangaya schools into the programme, government has initiated a pilot scheme with 52 selected mega schools to receive direct funding from it,” he said.
He further disclosed that apart from the direct funding strategy, the state government had provided school uniforms for 779,552 newly enrolled pupils (boys and girls) at the total cost of over N381 million.
In the area of manpower, Ganduje hinted that, his administration would, in an effort to reduce teacher deficiency in the sector, engage the services of 3,000 volunteer teachers to teach in the various public and Tsangaya (Almajiri) schools across the state.
“Government is also expending a sum of N350.7 million on the feeding of primary school pupils in classes 4, 5 and 6 to supplement the Federal Government’s home-grown feeding programme for pupils in classes 1, 2 and 3,” he added.
The government also disclosed that a committee had been constituted to revalidate the data on all out-of-school children across the state with a view to generating a comprehensive and reliable record.
He said this was aimed at consolidating the state’s commitment to the ‘Better Education Service for All (BESDA),’ initiative a UNICEF programme which aims at ensuring equitable access to basic education for out-of-school children.”
He noted that development partners like the World Bank that provided 790 digital classrooms for All Inclusive Empowerment Solution and tablets for distribution to teachers need to be commended for showing their support to the endeavour.
Ganduje solicited for community participation in the programm saying that government alone cannot shoulder all the responsibilities.
The presence of Emirs of Bichi, Karaye, Rano, Gaya and the representative of the Emir of Kano added colour to the event, as their presence depicted grass roots support.
Representatives of the World Bank, DFID and UNICEF who spoke at the occasion, affirmed their unflinching support to the programme, and promised to do whatever is possible to see to the successful implementation of the programme.
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